


Wandering Ways

by aleatoryEpiphany



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-12-13 23:20:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 180,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleatoryEpiphany/pseuds/aleatoryEpiphany
Summary: At the final battle with Naraku two unexpected things happen - the first being Naraku shattering the Shikon just before his death, and the second being a forging of a connection that nobody could possibly have predicted. Well, nobody except Miroku, that is. Complete.





	1. Chapter 1

It was over. It was finally over, and yet, now they had to start _all over again_. Oh  thank goodness because Kagome **did** **not** want to be spirited away back to her own time as she had known for months now the jewel would do to her if she completed her wish on it.

Kagome looked at the blood-filled battlefield, taking note of all the injured people, all of their allies who had fought this final battle with them – who had helped them destroy the evil hanyō that went by the name of Naraku. Kōga and his wolves. Sango and Kohaku. Miroku, staring in wonder at his hand that no longer had the kazaana. Kirara, laying down and looking around the battered bunch protectively – Shippō had been asked to help protect Rin, and he had done so eagerly, even though he knew that they were really just trying to keep him away from this final battle so that Kagome didn't have to risk losing the kit that she was coming to see as her son. Or perhaps it was because of that, that he had gone so easily with Jaken and Ah-Un.

Ginta and Hakkaku were currently fussing over one of their tribe-mates and staring warily over at Sesshōmaru-sama; he had warned the pack that if they ever came near his ward without the presence of either himself or Kagome, their lives would be forfeit, and ever since then they had been hesitant (read: refused outright) to go near the daiyōkai. Considering the fact that they killed ( _ate_ ; Kagome did _not like_ to think about that) Rin to begin with, Kagome couldn't find it in her to blame Sesshōmaru-sama or be upset with the threats. Rin was the sweetest, most precocious little girl she had ever met, and she loved the child with something veering close to like a daughter, something that Sesshōmaru-sama was well aware of and even seemed inclined to moderately encourage.

Apparently he thought that if Rin was going to have a mother, Kagome was somewhat better than other females he knew, which was beyond flattering. It meant that she had two wonderful children to care for and look after and had she been forced to leave them she would have been heartbroken.

Finally, Kagome took a look over at her first love, the hanyō who she had given her life for so many times – and who she had slowly and quietly let ( _made_ , although that sounded so much meaner) herself give up on, because they both deserved better than each other. Regardless of whether he loved her for herself _now_ (Kagome rather doubted it, the poor boy was so mixed up inside that he didn't know what he was doing or how he felt about most things), the only reason he had ever given her a chance was because she looked similar to Kikyō. Kagome deserved someone who wanted her for _herself_   from the **beginning**. Besides, hadn't he abandoned her every time the dead woman came around? Hadn't he fought for Kikyō's golem, defended her, loved her, even after she tried to kill Kagome? And himself?

Kagome had closed the book on her first love, even though she still cared deeply for him – Inuyasha was like an annoying, overprotective younger brother that she loved dearly, and he deserved someone to love him that had a personality closer to his, that had been through things more like he had, that knew what it was like to be hanyō. Kagome couldn't give him that. Kagome was sixteen now, physically, and mentally she was even older, having grown up and matured during her experiences in the Sengoku Jidai, as wartime often did to people. Mentally – or emotionally, rather – Inuyasha was still a brash youngster compared to her, and after finding out how hanyō aged, Kagome realised that he would stay that way for a very long time. Longer than she was willing to wait for _anyone_. And longer than, if she had been normal, she _could_ wait for anyone.

Inuyasha was currently kneeling on the bloody, gut-covered ground, staring at where Naraku had been mere moments before with a look of desperation and loss on his face. Kagome could understand why – he wanted to be done, he wanted to be finished; they had killed the big bad and everything should be over now...

But it wasn't. As soon as Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sesshōmaru-sama let loose their final attacks, joining them together to destroy their enemy, Naraku had re-shattered the nearly-finished jewel, sending it flying off into Kami knew how many pieces, all over Nihon. Apparently if _he_ couldn't have it, he didn't want _anyone_ to have it. All the work they had done was for naught, and Kagome knew with a quiet certainty that this time it would take _much_ longer to gather the shards, without Naraku there to control all the yōkai into handing them over to him.

Thankfully, she still had the three shards around her neck. She wasn't sure exactly how that managed to happen (Sesshōmaru-sama probably had something to do with it – for all he detested the Shikon and it's promises of false power, he recognised her as the only person capable of getting rid of the damn thing), but it had, so they had a head start, at least.

Sighing, Kagome stood up and walked over to the edge of the clearing, heaving up her backpack – no longer filled with books, but with more important things: first aid kits, medicine, bandages, food, clothes. The month before last Kagome had firmly decided to stop wearing her school uniform; they were expensive and in this time period they were indecent anyway. Once she had given up on Inuyasha, she had wanted to begin wearing a miko outfit, but she knew that the hanyō wouldn't allow it, so instead she wore t-shirts and jeans, making sure that her body was covered decently.

Kagome's skin suffered far fewer scrapes now than it used to.

She walked over to Kirara first, unpacking some of her herbal mixtures and, after cleansing the wound on her right foreleg with sterile water, packed some of the herbs that Kirara had begun pointing out to her months ago (by way of teeth or claws, generally; the nekomata was incredibly observant and smart) into it, before wrapping bandages around the slash, expertly tying it off. Then she worked her way around the field.

Miroku; two deep cuts on his arm – one needing stitches, which she did with a neat precision that would have shocked herself a year ago – and a shallow slice in his side. Sango; her leg was completely torn up, and her back needed stitches as well. Kohaku; a small cut on his face, one on his stomach, and a broken wrist that she calmly re-aligned and set, using straight sticks that she kept just for such a purpose to splint it. “Don't use this wrist for at least three weeks, Kohaku, and after that, only begin using it very slowly, for small things, until another couple weeks have passed. Be glad it isn't your right hand; at least you can still do most things and won't be too hindered.”

Her adrenaline was still running through her, so she didn't mind that there was blood in places she normally couldn't stand – battle aftermaths and doctoring people up were the only times she could really stand the substance, even if she had to firmly not think about it to do so.

Little did she know, she was being observed.

\- - -

Sesshōmaru, Lord of the West, most powerful living daiyōkai, and enemy of Naraku, watched the onna as she moved around the bloody, body part filled clearing, obviously not caring that her odd hakama were getting covered in blood, guts, and grime. Not caring that she was bleeding rather badly from a wound on her hip. Apparently, she didn't even feel the pain, from the way she was acting. The strange onna from “the future” was a talented miko, moreso than even the powerful ones in his land that he kept tabs on. None of them knew to sew deep wounds closed, or the different kind of herbs that yōkai needed to treat illness and wounds compared to what ningen needed – he noticed easily that she had given the nekomata that travelled with her the _proper_ herbs to promote healing, rather than the herbs one would use for ningen.

And still she moved around the clearing, now arriving at his half-brother and treating the despondent male, doing her best to cheer the hanyō up – to Sesshōmaru's surprise there was no sadness, despair, or loss in her scent. She was taking the loss of that cursed jewel incredibly well; much better than his idiot half-brother was, most certainly.

And now she was off treating the ōkami – again, packing the wounds with the right herbs, and only packing them after asking whether the yōkai in question had a reaction to any of them. Sesshōmaru knew of many beings that had adverse reactions to common herbs and foods, but most miko, monks, and healers did not take such things into account, simply using what they were familiar with and expecting it to work. Even yōkai healers did things that way – surely where the miko came from must be a very knowledgeable place for this onna to take such care.

Or perhaps the miko was just strange on her own; he knew for a fact that her heart was larger than any other being he had ever met, which might seem unusual for one such as him to notice until it became clear that his curiosity was every bit as great as his honoured father's had ever been, and after being unable to kill the miko – _twice_ – she had completely and wholly roused his curiosity.

Finally, she arrived at _him_ , and Sesshōmaru was tolerantly inclined to allow her to treat his wounds, despite not needing her aid, before lifting a claw under her chin and looking at her face intently. Yes, no sign of pain. How delightfully unusual, although really, he should have expected such with _her_.  Everything about her was unusual. “Miko, you are wounded. Deeply, at that. Is the wound not painful with your insistent movement?”

Her sapphire eyes widened and she blinked, looking down at her body to search for wounds and spying the deep gash along her hip. “Eh? Oh! Shit! That's going to be hard to sew up. Dammit, why me? Ugh, stupid adrenaline making me not feel pain.”

Well, Inuyasha had certainly affected her vocabulary over time. At least that was generally the only way in which his personality had affected hers. The young woman plopped down on the ground – ignorant of the puddle of blood she was kneeling in, despite the fact that he had seen her have incredibly negative and violent reactions to having blood on her person before – and looked through her bag as Sesshōmaru suppressed a low chuckle at her antics. Really, this onna was very entertaining and incredibly contradictory. “This Sesshōmaru can close the wound, if additional pain and permanent scarring does not bother you.”

She looked up, wide-eyed and hopeful (what kind of being was this onna that she would be _hopeful_ over something like permanent scarring and severe pain?), before standing again, dropping the bottle of water and the needle and thread back into her bag. “Would you _please_ cauterise it, Sesshōmaru-sama? I'd rather not leave it half-stitched because I can't reach the back, and frankly I don't trust anyone else here to finish the job – plus I'd just rather get the stupid healing over with anyhow, I have a job to do and don't need some  stupid _fucking_ injury holding me back.”

He raised an eyebrow at her—well that explained her hope—and at her _language_ , that was a bit farther than he'd expected her to go – which made her flush softly, closing her mouth, before peeling her top up and away from the wound, pushing the side of her hakama down as well, so that nothing was in his way. Sesshōmaru nodded and lifted a claw to the deep gash, and made sure that he was watching her face simultaneously with the wound. The awe on it as one of his less deadly poisons – really, this one was an acid – began to make the claw glow was satisfying, and while she bit her lip at the feel of his acid cauterising her wound, she did not even so much as whimper, although her eyes showed that she was indeed in pain. However, her pain was much less than he expected it to be, and the daiyōkai was silently impressed with this ningen, as was becoming common.

Most of them might be useless, but Rin and his half-brother's miko were definitely worthy of his respect, despite being ningen – even the monk that travelled with the miko's group was surprisingly powerful and polite.

When he was finished, he withdrew his claw, and she let go of her lip, bowing low to him. “Thank you very much, Sesshōmaru-sama.”

She looked at the cauterised wound and grinned wryly, chuckling softly. “Yet another battle scar. I think I'll wear this one with more pride than the rest though. It's a sign of how much I've grown in the past year, and a reminder that even though my mission isn't over yet, I helped to defeat a dangerous enemy today, and that I refuse to give up on my duty even when things appear to be hopeless.”

Then she was smiling at him, and bowing again, “Thank you again, Sesshōmaru-sama. Would you please take me to my son once I have talked to my friends again?”

He tilted his head forward with a soft “Hn,” and her smile brightened as she ran off to his half-brother, crouching down and talking to the hanyō. Sesshōmaru could hear everything, of course, not that he actually cared what was being said or listened to the words filtering through the air. The onna had power over Inuyasha, so she would always get her way in the end. His idiot half-brother might fancy himself in charge of the group he travelled with, but it was incredibly obvious that the miko was the actual alpha of the group, and the _only_ alpha, at that.

\- - -

Miroku grinned as he watched the daiyōkai that had allied with them for the past six moons (admittedly only very loosely, before the past moon), noticing that those icy golden eyes never left his comrade from the future. He was well aware that Kagome had peacefully given up on Inuyasha – he had helped her make the decision, after all, even though that hadn't been his _intent_ with that conversation. But it was for the best, in the end. Miroku had a talent that he kept from everyone, and that was the ability to see connections forged between people – although not, unfortunately, soul-bonds, however, he was aware that Kagome could _sense_ those. When she finally fully grew into her power she would be able to see them, as well.

Kagome and Inuyasha could have been moderately happy together, most certainly, if she hadn't matured so much, and were he not blind when it came to her... But Kagome was right that she deserved more than what she was getting, and so did her best friend.

The monk had just witnessed the birth of what was effectively a brand new connection, despite that there had already been a connection there before now, one glowing so strongly and brightly that he realised that the new path they were wandering was going to change _all_ of their lives completely and wholly. This was a connection that would grow slowly over the next year or two, and opportunity would be there _for_ it to grow, because the respected and feared daiyōkai had just become _interested_ in Kagome – with something  far more potent than the simple (albeit _incredibly intense_ ) curiosity in her existence that he had exhibited over the past year. Miroku knew better than to assume he would abandon that interest or deny that it existed, too. Sesshōmaru-sama never lied, especially to himself. Sure, there was a chance that he simply wouldn't act on the interest, but now that Rin was in his life, Miroku rather doubted that would happen. He wondered how far this connection would change the stoic daiyōkai. How much it would change _all_ of them.

Kagome was already like a mother to Rin, and Rin and Shippō were best friends – Sesshōmaru-sama consistently brought the young girl over to visit them a couple times a moon for the past few moons, so that Rin could see “Kagome-ne-san” and Shippō.

This was bound to be an intriguing experience, for sure. And had a high entertainment possibility, as well. Miroku was looking forward to the future, now.

\- - -

**A/N:** Here is a  blanket statement; some words other than yōkai, hanyō, ningen, and taijiya will be in Japanese, because it just fits better that way. I _tried_ to use their English counterparts and it was really just blegh. FYI: Nihon – Japan. Onna – girl; and Sesshōmaru for the most part stops using it after this chapter. Hakama – very loose and billowy trousers, Sesshōmaru uses that word, since her jeans are kind of baggy rather than tight.

I will be including what the Japanese words mean either in the author's notes _or_ in the chapter itself.


	2. Chapter 2

Kagome woke up panting softly, and shook her head sharply as she ran her fingers through her waist-length hair. The wavy black locks fell around her torso when she leaned forward, breathing evenly to calm herself down. Right. That _dream_ had been intense, and she could only hope that she hadn't been imagining that she felt Sesshōmaru-sama yesterday, because she  needed to seek him out and ask for a new alliance, so that her _dream_ wouldn't come to pass. Things would be _**really bad**_ if her _dream_ happened, and they would possibly be dealing with yet another twisted yōkai similar to Naraku if she couldn't begin to clear out his lands with his permission – and _soon_.

A week after the final battle with Naraku, Kagome had begun having _dreams_. They weren't just **any** dreams, though. They were always real, and always either showed a possible future or someone else's past. The latter sort of _dream_ inevitably made her feel incredibly uncomfortable – although Kagome could safely say that she had more friends/pseudo-family than she could possibly count because of them now; it was easy to be friends with someone when you understood them, when you had seen the events that shaped their very lives, even when you had wildly different views on many things. Kagome was even more open-minded now than she had been to begin with. The former kind of _dream_ had saved her life, and the lives of her friends and family, more times than she liked to think about. Especially because half the time both kinds of _dreams_ had come together – giving her empathy and a connection with someone and then showing her how to save their lives or otherwise improve them.

Inuyasha hated her _dreams_ , for some reason – probably because Kikyō had never had them, or maybe because it meant she would possibly be having these _dreams_ for the rest of her life, no matter what choices she made, or maybe because they meant he had less control over their destinations in the end. Whatever the reason, he couldn't stand them, and Kagome had given up on trying to keep him from being an asshole about it. For the most part she just did what she had to do to either prevent or cause the _dreams_ , and only talked to him about them if it was absolutely necessary.

Seriously, what had she ever seen in Inuyasha? Sure he was a _great_ friend at times, or a great meat-shield, more like it (Kagome was well aware by now that _nobody_ who treated her as badly as he did could honestly be called her _protector_ , **or** her friend, he just kept her from being slaughtered), but he was such a **child**. It had been six months since the defeat of Naraku and he was still sulking over the loss of the jewel, despite the fact that Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, Kirara, and Shippō were all travelling with them to find the shards – of course, Shippō would have been with them regardless, he was her _son_ after all, but it would be so much harder without the help of the others. He was becoming more difficult to deal with, especially because, no matter what she said to the contrary, Miroku was probably her closest friend in this era, had been since halfway into her first year here, and Inuyasha kept mistaking their friendship and camaraderie for something _else_ despite the monk's utter devotion to Sango.

Kagome did feel slightly guilty though – she thought that part of the reason for his upset might be the fact that their relationship hadn't changed from being just best friends... and Kagome wasn't willing to break her changed feelings to him yet. He needed to get back into the groove of shard-hunting and start being happy with his life again before she let him know that she didn't want the same future he wanted any more. That she had moved on. Ideally she would wait for that until he had grown up some, but Kagome was well aware that it would be decades before he grew up as much as she had, through no fault of his own. Frustratingly enough, he actually _had_ matured since she met him in some ways – but was stubborn and blind when it came to pretty much _anything_ about Kagome herself.

When Sesshōmaru-sama allowed her and Shippō to visit with Rin, even since before Naraku died, she had small talks with him – mostly filled with him inquiring shortly about the future and her answering his queries with lengthy explanations. But she _had_ asked about yōkai and hanyō growth, being curious about what to expect with Shippō, and he had told her about the difference in ningen growth rates compared to them.

Hanyō grew at a rate equivalent to one year for every ten – both mentally and physically. Having a hanyō child, even if the power between the parents was not equivalent, often gifted a ningen mother of a hanyō with a much longer life so that she could parent her child. Not always, however.

Yōkai tended to grow at the rate of one year per five, mentally, and one year every fifteen to twenty, physically. According to Sesshōmaru-sama, mentally ageing so much quicker was a self-defence mechanism so that children could stay out of dangerous situations more easily.

Kitsune were unique in that physically they aged like hanyō, and mentally they could age at any rate they wished, although they generally kept their mental age with their physical – leading Shippō to comment that he was seventy one and he'd made himself grow up a little faster so he could be of help to his mama, but now he was going back to ageing every ten years like he had been with his old father. Sesshōmaru-sama had gotten a _Look_ in his eyes when he heard that and Kagome suspected that he had strongly mixed feelings towards her son's obvious maturity for his age outside of the natural maturity and wisdom that came from him being a kitsune.

Once yōkai reached adulthood at fifteen they could control the rate of physical change – Kagome had slyly asked if the reason Sesshōmaru-sama still looked so young (because he only looked around nineteen years old, despite obviously having matured well past that point by now, and whilst she knew that was his actual physical age, when he was so much more mature, one would think he would mature his body to match) was because it made his opponents underestimate him, and he had raised an eyebrow and tilted his head at her, admitting that yes, that was exactly why, and that he was impressed with her rapid deduction.

That had been a _very_ proud day for Kagome. Not many people could say that they had impressed the daiyōkai Lord of the Western Lands. _Especially_ ningen – Kagome was probably the first adult ningen to have done so.

Her relationship with Sesshōmaru-sama was... Well, it was just plain weird, considering how he treated most of the people around him; especially ningen. Kagome certainly considered him a friend... and while she couldn't say for _sure_ that the same feeling was on his end, well, it wouldn't _actually_ surprise her if it was... Or surprise her if it turned out that he was willing to _admit_ to that, if she ever had the courage to ask. When Inuyasha had barked out at his half-brother a couple months ago, asking why he bothered talking to Kagome when he was only there so Rin and Shippō could visit, Miroku said that Kagome was the first adult ningen that Sesshōmaru-sama had found a deep respect for, _obviously_. Emphasis included; how Miroku managed to regularly be so patronising or condescending towards the hanyō and Inuyasha constantly and consistently failed to notice it, Kagome would _never_ understand.

And then, after Miroku's comment, Sesshōmaru-sama had said something that surprised everyone in the group except for the monk, who had simply been sat there looking wise and amused simultaneously. He said that Kagome ( _he used her_ _ **name**_ _!_ ) was far more yōkai than ningen by now, and that Inuyasha was a fool for being unable to see that.

Some people might be insulted by that; hell, a year ago, halfway through that first terrible and wonderful year in this era, Kagome herself would have felt insulted – feeling that he was insinuating that she was inferior despite the obvious compliment he was giving her... But now...

Well.

Kagome had _never_ blushed _harder_ in her _life_ , because she knew exactly what an **enormous** compliment that was coming from the not-as-stoic-as-he-used-to-be Lord; especially once Shippō ran up to her and fervently agreed, saying that she raised him like his first father had, even though she didn't have the same powers that he did. That was the first time that Kagome had felt like she was _really_ worthy of being Shippō's mama. Especially when Sesshōmaru-sama commented that that was why he allowed Rin to play with Shippō; he didn't have to worry about their influence making his daughter ningen. (Yes,  daughter, two months ago he had admitted to Kagome that he considered Rin to be his daughter _it was so adorable and sweet, gah_! Erm... Yes. Anyway.)

Sango had protested at that, feeling the need to defend that Rin _was_ ningen, before Kagome motioned to her and asked her a few careful questions, so as not to allow her heart-sister to embarrass herself or her pack with her slight prejudices towards ningen.

If Rin had chosen to follow Sesshōmaru-sama despite being killed by yōkai, didn't that mean that she would rather be yōkai than ningen anyhow – especially considering that she had obviously been shown to have more fear of ningen than of most yōkai?

Well... yes, Sango supposed. But-

And, considering that she was travelling around and helping Sesshōmaru-sama patrol his lands – quite happily, at that – didn't she need to have more fortitude than a ningen her age would?

Of _course_.

And didn't the young girl already know how to hunt and fish and defend herself to an admirable degree? She and Shippō often provided dinner for the group when they were visiting together, after all.

Sango had shut up about the whole “ningen versus yōkai” thing after that, and Miroku had shot Kagome a sly look accompanied by a wink that made her roll her eyes and giggle. He _obviously_ approved of her subtle but firm manipulation of what could have degraded into a confrontational situation. Sesshōmaru-sama had looked (probably only to her) highly approving as well, much to Kagome's further gratification.

Inuyasha had grown a bit more surly since that happened, but Kagome knew he would get over it eventually – even if she had to force it to happen, dammit. She could not _stand_ having to “sit” Inuyasha almost every damn time that Sesshōmaru-sama either brought Rin over or came to fetch Kagome and Shippō, depending on if he felt like dealing with the rest of the Inutachi. Sesshōmaru-sama had completely stopped antagonising his half-brother after a conversation with Kagome in which she stated that she didn't wish the children to grow up thinking that such behaviour was acceptable or polite. Apparently he hadn't thought of it that way, and upon musing over it, agreed with her. This had happened _the day_ of the final battle, at that!

Suddenly the bundle next to her thigh wiggled, pulling her from her thoughts, and Kagome lifted her son out of the sleeping bag, cuddling him close and kissing his forehead. “Good morning, my sweet Shippō. We are going to go visit Sesshōmaru-sama and Rin today, if I can find them, because I had a _dream_ and we need to make an alliance with him since we need to make sure we can travel through his lands safely to get all the shards that landed in them. This is Naraku-level.”

That was her code for a yōkai who would potentially be another supremely overpowered and cunning enemy if left alone, but who could easily be taken care of if they did it _very soon_. But **only** if they did some very specific things. There'd been three before this – shard-hunting was exhausting sometimes, more mentally than physically now at least, though.

Shippō looked up at her with a very serious nod, which shifted into a smile, and he climbed onto her shoulder, running his claws through her hair in a grooming gesture that she had become very familiar with over the past six months. Shippō and Sesshōmaru-sama had been tutoring her on important habits for kitsune and inu yōkai, and she was absorbing the information greedily. She had already grabbed a book on canine gestures, and she was incredibly glad she had gotten it – she could study it and make sure that she didn't accidentally do something that might break the alliance she was going to make (not _attempt_ to make. Kagome _knew_ she could do this, with a quiet certainty that this was destined, somehow) today.

“He'll accept, Mama, after all, Sesshōmaru-sama has saved you just as much as Inuyasha has done, lately. This'll just make things official.”

Kagome hummed softly and nodded, looking around the camp – everyone was asleep and Inuyasha was gone as per usual – Kagome wasn't sure where the hanyō left every morning, it wasn't as if the Kikyō-golem was here for him to run off to any more, but he was always gone when she awoke an hour or more before dawn to get her secret practise in.

Kagome suspected he might be leaving to avoid the nightmares that plagued either her or her son every night she didn't have a _dream_ – and the various nightmares others in their little group had, because he never came back until everyone else was well awake. Kagome wasn't sure how to feel about the selfishness implied in that, so she just didn't _think_ about it.

She didn't dare let her comrades know how frighteningly powerful she was now that Magatsuhi's seal was broken; although she strongly suspected Miroku knew more than he was letting on (fix that, deep down she _knew_ he was aware of everything but she just _didn't think about that_ ), and Kohaku had seen far more of her abilities – he just didn't realise they would have been unusual to the others and so didn't mention them. The group all took some pride in the fact that they were able to protect and rescue her. She really wanted to learn how to fight properly, though, how to use weapons other than her bow and arrows, something that Shippō was well aware of, but since she couldn't at the moment, the least she could do was practise her spiritual powers and other things.

So far Kagome could use her _reiki_ to enhance her senses, strengthen her body, speed herself up, and augment her physical abilities, as well as to sense the inherent earth-ki and reiki of other objects and beings around her and “see” with it. She could use her _miko-ki_ (because  reiryoku was _blue_ , not _pink_ , so she gave her purification powers a different name. It was straightforward and simple) to make strong barriers, shoot arrows without needing the actual physical object to mould her energy around, infuse her hands with purification powers so that she would purify anything she touched, and sense yōki, hōriki, and reiryoku for _kilometres_ _upon_ _kilometre_ _s_ around her. Kagome _always_ knew when Sesshōmaru-sama was even slightly close, despite the fact that he regularly and almost constantly kept his yōki restrained so he wasn't projecting his strength all over the place. Kagome knew when the daiyōkai was around ages – _days_ – before Inuyasha did nowadays.

She felt somewhat guilty for hiding her abilities from most of her friends, but Shippō had agreed with her that they all felt better because they could protect her, and that at least for now, the illusion needed to be kept up. Maybe one day in the future she would get a chance to receive training properly and be able to end the farce of her helplessness.

Shippō finished combing her hair, crawling around her side from behind her where he always ended, and she smiled at the young kitsune, placing him in her lap and using her fingers to groom his own hair – and partially using her comb, since she didn't have claws, on his tail. Then they both got dressed, Kagome donning her baggy jeans that sat on her hips – only halfway covering the surprisingly deep scar on her left hip. Her mama had broken into tears upon seeing that, because in the modern era (actually, _here_ too, but she didn't let her mama know that) scars on women were something to be ashamed of.

But Kagome had gently let her mother know that she was _proud_ of this scar, and that she had actively and completely willingly chosen to let it be healed in such a way that it left more than just a line across her skin – she was _missing_ a very noticeable chunk of her body where the gash was. Despite feeling like it disfigured her a bit, she was still inordinately proud of her battle scar – besides, to her, looks were a bit overrated by now. Some of the prettier people she'd known were often cruel and vicious, where some of the plainer people she'd known had stunning personalities and hearts. Not that it always ended up that way, but Kagome refused to let looks fool her now. Especially because humanoid greater yōkai were far more physically attractive than ningen were; and exponentially more dangerous, too, regardless of their personalities.

Then she pulled on a loose evergreen three-quarter sleeve shirt, sighing and wishing, not for the first time, that she could wear more appropriate clothes. She'd rather be wearing hakama (preferably the neat, if more complicated to wear, sashinuki hakama that Sesshōmaru-sama, Shippō, and Inuyasha wore, although some amount of yōki was probably required to keep them puffy like they were) and kimono, or a miko outfit, or anything other than these **stupid** modern clothes that made her stand out more... but every time she suggested it Inuyasha threw a fit – possibly because his half-brother had agreed with her the one time she mentioned it when they were together, but...

When she talked to Sango about it, the taijiya had told her that as time passed she resembled her previous incarnation (Kagome hadn't told them yet... And refused to feel guilty about that. Miroku knew, but he'd pretty much _always_ known, even before _Kagome_ had. The monk knew almost _everything_ – Kagome had nicknamed him “he-who-knows-all” for a reason.) less and less, and that it was possible that Inuyasha didn't want to see how different she looked than Kikyō in clothing that suited this era. Or that maybe he was trying to keep other males from realising how pretty Kagome was growing because her strange clothes kept people from looking so much at her face. Both suggestions were selfish, childish, and stupid, but Kagome really didn't feel like fighting with her “best friend” any more than she already did. Especially because those were just theories and maybe he did have a good reason. And especially because Sango still had her old beliefs about how things would go, so she might have been trying to make Inuyasha seem more attractive to Kagome. Yet another thing Kagome refused to feel guilty for.

Shippō jumped up onto her shoulder again once she finished grooming him, nuzzling into her hair as she walked into the forest surrounding their camp, extending her reiki so she could “see” the landscape around her and find a suitable practise space. It didn't take long to find one, and soon she was going through her exercises and the cobbled-together training she was giving herself. Shippō watched from the side, sitting up in a low branch of a tree, and after about an hour he called to her that it was time to stop. She did her cool-down exercises, pulled her reiki and miko-ki back into her body, then set off to find the stream near their camp. The two of them did some fishing (Shippō catching many more fish than Kagome did, although she still managed to catch two) for breakfast and went back to the camp.

Shippō gutted the fish and skewered them onto damp sticks, while she built up the fire and grabbed the stones to hold the fish with, taking each skewer and pinning it between two stones to prop it up. In about an hour the rest of the camp would be awake (hopefully Kohaku wouldn't have had any nightmares – she hated being unable to dull the effects of them, unable to soothe and blunt those memories for him), having smelled the cooking fish, and Inuyasha would be back from wherever he went. This morning, things would go a bit differently, though. Kagome walked over to Miroku and shook him awake – the monk woke up rather easily (he probably hadn't actually been asleep; he always woke up up far more easily than anyone else when she had to leave camp because of her _dreams_ and left him in charge. It was highly suspicious but she didn't want to pry any more, unlike how she'd been in the beginning), and gave her a questioning look as she crouched down beside him, Shippō clinging to her top next to her.

“I had a _dream_ last night – if I fail to get us allied with Sesshōmaru-sama again for the duration of our current quest, we're completely screwed – Naraku-level screwed. We need his help. You know that Inuyasha can't be trusted to do it, and while I felt Sesshōmaru-sama in the area yesterday, I don't know where he is, and I'm not willing to wait for him to come to us to get this done – especially because if Inuyasha finds out what I'm doing he will pitch a fit. Would you tell everyone that I had a _dream_ and went to do what I needed to do, and keep an eye on the fish? I'll be back when I'm done negotiating the alliance and letting Rin and Shippō play – don't worry if I'm gone a few days, because who knows how far away he is, though it shouldn't be more than two or three days, he recognises my aura so he'll probably seek me out if he senses it away from the rest of the group. He's had to save my skin a couple times and that seems to have put him on high alert, regarding my safety, hahaha.”

Miroku smiled at her and placed a hand atop her head with a nod. “Of course, Kagome-sama. I understand, and will do as you ask. After all, you _are_ the leader.”

She flushed and shook her head, flustered and confused at that comment because Inuyasha was the most powerful person in the group, physically, “What- But- No, I'm not-”

He gave her a _L_ _ook_ and she quieted, listening to him with an open mind, despite her _extreme_ reservations. He had better have a damn good reason for saying such a ridiculous thing, because Kagome was _not_ the leader, and if Inuyasha found out that Miroku felt that way he would be even _worse_ to deal with, dammit. He already pitched a fit any time she and Miroku were visibly close, despite him chasing after Sango and Miroku being perfectly chaste, and _Shippō_ being with them.

“Who cooks _all_ of our meals?  You. Who tells us where the shards are? You. Who makes Inuyasha give us breaks when we need them? You. Who _insisted_ that if Inuyasha _dared_ try and push us as hard as he did with Naraku they would “sit” him until he was residing in Hell?  You. Who picks out our camping spots for the night – ones that are always more than acceptable, which I thank you for, by the way? You. Who takes care of our wounds, cheers us up, and keeps us all going? That would be _you_ , Kagome-sama. Inuyasha might be the strongest fighter, and he might fancy himself in charge of this group, but the real power is _you_ , and you should have more faith in yourself. Now, I am sure you wish to get this over with, I look forward to watching you “sit” Inuyasha until he listens to you, once you get back.”

Er... Okay, so maybe she _was_ the leader. Well, fuck. Also, seriously, the way Miroku said those things was _so embarrassing and flattering,_ _seriously_.

Kagome calmed down her blush and grinned wryly at him before she picked up her son and sedately walked out of the camp. She waited until she was back in the clearing she had been in this morning before spreading out her reiki and miko-ki, passing over the various beings she sensed until she found Sesshōmaru-sama. There! He was about five kilometres away, and luckily, Rin was with him, although she was still asleep, as per usual at this time of day. It was just barely dawn, the sun still hidden by the trees surrounding them. Grinning, Kagome pulled her ki back in, before infusing her legs with reiki, winking down at her son, and _running_ , ducking and weaving through the trees with an ease and grace that came from a year and a half of experience running in this era; not to mention six months of **hard** training.

Kami, but running like this was so _exhilarating_. She wished she could do it all the time, dashing about faster than even her hanyō comrade could go. With that in her head, memories crowding her mind, thoughts of times spent flying through the trees, she leapt up into the canopy and spread her reiki out in a small sphere around her so that she could keep her eyes forward, just using her reiki to sense where she needed to jump and grab, practically flying as she ran through the trees. She was so absorbed in her journey, getting ever closer to where she had sensed Sesshōmaru-sama, that she didn't even notice she had company until Shippō tugged on her shirt collar, making her look over.

The girl from the future squeaked and had to work to keep her balance before she sent a mock glare at the person running alongside her and looking highly impressed. “Sesshōmaru-sama, you startled me! Keeping yourself concealed like that while I'm _in the trees_ – how **rude**. I could have fallen!”

She was teasing at the last, and he scoffed and rolled his eyes at her, because they both knew he had far more faith in her competence than his half-brother did. If she had her arrow aimed at something, he _never_ took care of it for her, letting her claim her kill for herself. So she continued, “I was just going to see you. Let's race back to your camp site!”

She knew it _might_ be a long shot that he would accept, but there was _definitely_ a chance he would, especially since he had been interested enough in her journey to completely cloak his scent and his yōki so that she couldn't sense him. She kept her eyes on him as she ran and leapt through the trees, getting a shock when he smirked and dashed forward, causing her to cry out, “Hey!  Rrrrr! No _fair_!”

Kagome poured more reiki into her legs and caught up with him, keeping her breathing even and deep as she journeyed beside the daiyōkai, keeping careful track of where he ran, since she was now using too much of her energy running to keep track of where the camp site was. She knew he was holding back on her, allowing her to keep up with him, but she appreciated it rather than resenting it. It had only been six months since the defeat of Naraku and since Kagome had begun using her unsealed ki, after all – even if she would one day be able to keep up with him at full speed, it was quite impossible for her right now, especially since she was just experimenting and had no idea what she was doing. Frankly it was miraculous that she could move about faster than Inuyasha, but Shippō's advice had helped her there.

It was another ten minutes before they reached the clearing, and Sesshōmaru exited into it first, leaping from his branch and landing quite silently in the middle of the camp site, right next to the fire. Kagome giggled and jumped to the ground on the edge of the clearing, walking calmly towards him and stretching as Shippō climbed atop her head, unconsciously baring a bit of her midriff as her arms pulled her shirt up, despite its reasonable length. “That was fun, Mama!”

“Mhm, it certainly was. Thank you very kindly for the race, Sesshōmaru-sama, and for going easy on me so that I could keep up with you.”

He gracefully sat down, and Kagome sat in front of him, Shippō climbing into her lap and snuggling into her stomach adorably. It wasn't long before the inevitable question was asked, “How long have you been able to use your reiki in such a way, Kagome?”

“I started training myself in the use of my reiki and miko-ki six months ago, Sesshōmaru-sama. As it turns out, when I was born, Magatsuhi sealed my powers, because he was afraid of my strength. I spent the year before the defeat of Naraku working with only a small fraction of my actual abilities. Shortly before the defeat of Naraku my powers were unsealed. None of my comrades are aware of the fact that I am using my ki in such a way; excepting my son, of course – well, and probably Miroku but even if he suspects or outright knows, he would _never_ be so rude as to pry. Shippō and I agreed not to tell them because they take pride in being able to protect me... As frustrating as it is, they work better when they think I am weak.

“I think most of them would be able to handle knowing that I'm actually far more powerful than them and can use that power, but Inuyasha definitely wouldn't be able to handle it, and things are so tense and frustrating with him right now that I'm just not willing to go into that right now. I really want to learn self-defence and how to **properly** use both my reiki and miko-ki beyond the self-training I do an hour before dawn every day, but so far that's not been possible. Even the help I've been given is limited because my miko-ki is _not_ reiryoku, so while some of the things I've been shown work, most of them actually don't, apparently my miko-ki isn't channelled the same way as reiryoku.”

Sesshōmaru-sama looked at her thoughtfully with a quiet “Hn,” and Kagome awaited his actual response – Sesshōmaru-sama wasn't incredibly wordy, but he did speak a _lot_ more than he used to. Kagome liked to think that it had to do with him deciding she was a worthy conversationalist, but she didn't know for sure. “Why did you seek this Sesshōmaru out, Kagome?”

“I... Hm. Well, ever since shortly after the defeat of Naraku and the unsealing of my power, I've been having _dreams_. Many of them are precognitive, but many of them are also memories of other people, other lives. These _dreams_ have kept our group out of quite a bit of trouble, and caused me to make more friends than I can count, in the case of the memories. Anyway, I had a precognitive _dream_ last night, and I would like to propose an alliance with you, to prevent the _dream_ from coming true, and before you ask, no I would _not_ like to inform you of what happened in the _dream_ – speaking them aloud makes it _far_ more likely that they happen, I learned that the hard way; many times.”

Silver hair fell to the side as he tilted his head in acknowledgement – Sesshōmaru-sama might have an insatiable curiosity, as he had shown her, but he knew when not to push things, unlike _some_ people – and he spoke again, “What would the terms of this alliance be?”

“First off, it would mainly be an alliance with _me_ , simply including the group in it, rather than an alliance with your half-brother... Inuyasha does not know I am doing this.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her and gave her a _L_ _ook_ , those intense golden eyes focused intently on her, disturbingly similar to the one Miroku had given her earlier; which made her bite her lip and wince a bit. “You _are_ the alpha bitch in your group, are you not, Kagome? This Sesshōmaru assumed as much before, even when believing you were the one in your group with the least power and physical ability, but upon finding out about your new abilities, it is even more fitting of your position.”

Kagome swore softly and huffed, making Shippō giggle, “Dammit. Miroku said basically the same thing earlier, that even though Inuyasha was the most powerful fighter and fancied himself in charge, I was the real leader of the group. I don't... I don't know _how_ I feel about that. That just complicates things, especially if everyone else but Inuyasha feels the same way...”

“The hanyō will get over it, eventually – just because his maturation will take decades compared to the years of yours, does not mean that some growing up is impossible during this time. Prove your power, prove your worth, and he will be forced to respect you.”

Shippō spoke up, placing one of his tiny clawed hands on her interlocked fingers, and Kagome was wholly unaware that he was ever so slightly manipulating things so that the current situation would change more rapidly in the ways he wanted, just as good kitsune did, “Mama is afraid that Inuyasha won't be able to use Tessaiga any more if he realises she can protect herself, because the sword only works when being used to protect ningen – well, originally anyhow, I think re-forging it made it so it'll just work because there's been times when it was just yōkai that he was protecting, but still, nobody is _sure_ of that. Plus, Mama doesn't want him to have any more reason to compare her to Kikyō because he refuses to see that Mama was _never Kikyō_ , or to make him like her more than he already does. I think that if she's more powerful than him then he won't like her so much, but I could be wrong.”

Sesshōmaru looked as if his world had been tilted on its axis for a spare moment, one so swift that Kagome promptly forgot she saw the look, before speaking again, his voice casual and careful. Shippō, however, saw the look and _memorised_ it because that look meant he would get what he wanted sooner rather than later. Far,  far sooner. Goal accomplished, with Mama none the wiser! Shippō might be young but he was a _good_ kitsune, and knew how to get his way without certain people realising he was doing so. Sesshōmaru-sama probably realised, or would soon, but Mama had to stay in the dark, and she was. Job done. “This Sesshōmaru was under the impression that you were in love with Inuyasha, Kagome.”

“Pft, yeah, up until about nine months ago. Well, more like up until about eight months ago – I just decided that I deserved someone who would love me for _me_ , rather than because I physically resembled their ex-lover, nine months ago. It took a month-ish for me to fall out of love with him, but it happened. The speed sort of makes me think I never loved him deeply anyhow. Inuyasha might love me as Kagome rather than as a Kikyō replacement _now_ , which I still doubt, since the fucker can't even seem to say my damn name, but even if he does, it most certainly wasn't that way to begin with, and when she was around, he **always** picked her over me.

“I loved him anyhow, dealt with the pain and the jealousy... until I realised that I was _seriously_ selling myself short. And until I realised that I had fallen in love with him for very shallow reasons to begin with, and that _he_ deserved better, too. We have like, nothing in common, we fight constantly, he's always putting me down and disrespecting me, I have a power of subjugation over him that makes our relationship entirely too imbalanced... It's just a really bad match. So I _fixed it_ so I wasn't in love with him any more.”

Before the final battle with Naraku, Kagome would have sworn that Sesshōmaru-sama, while not actually emotionless, certainly kept a façade of being completely uncaring of anything. Ever since he had cauterised her wound, however, something had changed. Whenever they were in private, she was freely allowed to read his eyes, which held so much emotion that it made her gasp, sometimes. Those eyes could be as cold as ice – and they could be as intense as lava. Right now, _molten_ gold was swirling around with wholly blatant approval. She knew why the approval was there; Sesshōmaru-sama scolded her **every time** she was prepared to simply _accept_ things without questioning or fighting them to get what she actually wanted or needed out of the situation. Once their initial, tentative alliance against Naraku had been started six months into her first year here he had even gone so far as to prod and push her into verbal disagreements with him, sometimes to the point of playing the “devil's advocate,” so to speak, to force her to demand what she wanted or needed from him – much to both his amusement and her embarrassment.

It had worked though. She was fighting back against what almost everyone else assumed her fate would be in the Sengoku Jidai. Girl meets hanyō, hanyō protects girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after... despite meeting when they were only fifteen and half-mature, despite having almost nothing in common, despite him treating her like _crap_ from the very moment he met her.

Now, Kagome considered herself to be fully adult now. Maybe not physically, she still had a few years of growth left to do, but most certainly emotionally. She had matured significantly over the past year or so. She was quieter, blew up less often, knew how and when to pick her fights, stood up for herself more, had more respect for those who deserved it, and trusted her instincts, even when they told her not to trust the people around her. That last had been a hard thing to learn for the girl who wanted to believe the best of everyone.

And, yeah, she realised that she still had some growing up to do even emotionally; but that was a lifelong thing. She would always be emotionally maturing and changing. But if she was mature enough to be a mother, she was mature enough to decide her own future, and in her future, the role Inuyasha played was overprotective, annoying younger brother and friend – not lover.

“You fight for your choice and made it with logic and reason powering it; good. Defend it and refuse to give in. Now, what terms do you propose for an alliance with this Sesshōmaru?”

Kagome grinned at him and stretched again, nodding firmly as she spoke. “Free travel throughout your lands without any interference from you or your men unless aid is needed; in return we will be disposing of the shards contaminating your yōkai population and seeding chaos that disrupts your rule. When asked for, aid will be given to either party in exchange for work being done by the party receiving aid – if you help _any_ of us out I will personally do anything you require of me in repayment of your aid; I cannot promise that the others of my group will help out but I will _most certainly_ repay the debt. Whenever you need help with Rin I will give it – whether it is healing or simply watching her. Also, playdates between Rin and Shippō at least fortnightly; not just for them but also for you and I to discuss anything that we feel needs to be aired out. Playdates will be alternated between the Inutachi and your group, barring unforeseen circumstances. Is this acceptable, Sesshōmaru-sama?”

“If this Sesshōmaru were to join your daily training, would you accept learning hand to hand combat and learning how _yōkai_ regulate _yōki_? This one can tell your kit has shown you some things, but he can show the _both_ of you far more.”

Cerulean eyes widened as Kagome leaned forward with a gasp, “ _Would I_? Of course I would! I have been wanting to learn how to fight for _ages_ now – actually I want to learn more than just hand to hand but that's not really possible right now. And yōkai use their yōki so naturally and instinctively that it is _far_ superior to how most ningen use their own various forms of ki; so it would be an enormous, distinct advantage if this Kagome could learn to use her abilities in such a manner. What would I be doing in return for this?”

He shook his head minutely as he responded, “If the miko Kagome is helping to protect this Sesshōmaru's lands from threats he cannot adequately take care of on his own, it is only fair that he aids in her training. If you ever provide a direct service for this Sesshōmaru, I will take you to my shiro for two moons or so, so that you may begin learning what other weapons suit you and how to fight with them. That will be the repayment; is such repayment acceptable?”

Shippō bounded off of her lap as Kagome bowed low, giving Sesshōmaru the ultimate gesture of thanks and respect by extending her hands in front of her and placing her head below them. “That is more than acceptable, Sesshōmaru-sama. Thank you so very much for your aid... And for your... Friendship?”

She said the last as a question, because she didn't wish to assume, but when she looked up she was rewarded with a small smirk and a nod. “Hn. Friendship, indeed. Shippō, go wake Rin up and play with her, after preparing breakfast to be cooked. Kagome, tell me what your lessons consist of this fortnight.”

Kagome straightened from her bow and launched into a description of her school work (focusing on chemistry this time) for the home school she was in, now with a bright smile as she chattered to her unlikely friend, pleased very much with the way her life was going right now.


	3. Chapter 3

_Dammit_!

Kagome flared a ki arrow (regular arrows were far too expensive for her to use them when she was with someone who knew of her abilities) and shot it through the group of yōkai advancing on her and Rin, her miko-ki purifying all in its path. The corrupt yōkai disappeared and she looked around at the bloody field she was in, panting heavily. This had been a difficult fight – for once, not over the shards hanging from a vial around her neck that was enchanted to never come off unless she wholly willingly took it off (thanks very much to Sesshōmaru-sama, after an incident where she'd been kidnapped and her shards stolen – were it not for his swift actions they would have had to go through so many more months of hunting to recover them – and he decided that they shouldn't be taking risks with the shards). Instead, this attack was over her and Rin.

Apparently a faction of Sesshōmaru-sama's subjects were most displeased over his official adoption of Rin eight months ago – by using one of his poisons to mark her as pack by blood rather than by just his words, resulting in a lavender crescent moon on her forehead that matched his own. It was _so_ _cute_! They were also displeased with his association and alliance with the Inutachi, regardless of the fact that Kagome and her friends were performing an integral service for the Lord of the Western Lands. Unlike their Lord, most normal yōkai lusted after the Shikon, after all.

It was frustrating as all _hell_. Especially since Rin was still recovering from a terrible bout of influenza that had kept Kagome with her and Sesshōmaru for the past week. She was beyond good with herbal medicine by now, for both yōkai and ningen, but Rin had necessitated an unexpected trip through the well for medication, because no amount of herbs could cure illness as severe as what the girl child had developed. Kagome hadn't been too pleased with having to make another trip when just last month she had decided to only visit her original time once a season from then on – unlike how things would have turned out a year and a half ago, she would be staying in the Sengoku Jidai once the Jewel was gone, because she had  far more responsibilities in this time now than she used to have in her original time. So there was no need to actually go to high school when she could teach herself the necessary things just by reading (or through experience) anyhow. But she didn't resent it, instead feeling relieved that her daughter (for that was Rin's place in her life, Shippō even called her Rin-ne) was well on her way to healing now.

The rogue yōkai were all dead now, and both Sesshōmaru-sama and Ah-Un were looking worse for wear – leading Kagome to nod firmly to herself and decide that it would be better for Rin to have _their_ protection than _her_ protection. Besides, _Sesshōmaru-sama_ should _never_ look like that. Never, _ever_. Silently, she walked over to Sesshōmaru-sama, knelt next to his crouching form, placed her hands on his shoulders, and poured her reiki into him before he could say a word, completely instinctively forcing her energy into the healing channels of his yōki, speeding up the healing process and feeding him with more energy. To say that he looked shocked would be an understatement, and Kagome grinned wryly at him before moving over to Ah-Un and repeating the procedure.

...And then she collapsed against the two-headed, intelligent, sweet dragon, quite dramatically, having drained herself beyond anything she had done so far in her time here.

When Kagome woke up it was at her usual time in the pre-dawn hours, so she had slept quite a bit, and it was to a very intent daiyōkai with a dozen questions in his eyes. She sighed and sat up, reaching for the water he was handing her and taking a drink before she spoke. “First off, I apologise for healing you without asking first, Sesshōmaru-sama, but I knew I would recover within a day despite how much miko-ki I used, since my ability uses reiki, rather than that, and felt that you and Ah-Un could better protect Rin than myself. Second, I've been able to do this for about a year. That I know of. The first time it happened... Shippō and I were attacked the week after you began joining in my morning training, when you had to go back to your shiro for some business. Don't ask me where Inuyasha was, he's always gone when I'm training and I don't know or care where he goes.

“Anyway, we got attacked and Shippō was hurt, badly. I was desperate, I didn't know what to do, and suddenly my reiki just... _P_ _oured_ out of me, and then he was healed. I don't think my reiki is actually doing the healing, I think it's just speeding it up or something – but I'm not really sure, I could be wrong. I've done it to a few other yōkai, always after a blood-oath not to tell anyone about what happened – easy, since they've already shed the blood, hah. I think there's been about eight others that I've healed, and whenever Shippō gets injured, even just a little, I heal him up. Obviously I trust you far too much to even think about asking for a blood-oath about this.”

“Hn... Can you heal ningen this way?”

“I don't know, but even if I can I wouldn't – not unless it's an emergency and I know for sure they won't say anything about it, or unless I make an active choice to do it without letting anyone know about it. I deserve to live my life as more than some slave-healer of others, in spite of the fact that I really do eventually want to be a proper miko or healer once I'm done with the shards, if only part-time.”

“Very true. You have done a direct service for this Sesshōmaru when you healed his injuries, Kagome – would you be amenable to visiting the shiro for two... Hmm, nay, two and a half, so that departure from the shiro would be on a full cycle day. So, two and a half moons, so that you can begin weapons training? Your kit will be coming with you, of course.”

Suddenly Kagome remembered the terms of her alliance, negotiated just over/around a year ago, and she boldly stared at Sesshōmaru-sama, gasping excitedly, “Really? Yes, please! But... How will we get Inuyasha to let me go without a fight?”

“Simple – this Sesshōmaru will do something distasteful but necessary, and allow his half-brother to believe you have been injured, and that in return for your services you will be better learning how to use your ki.”

“Sesshōmaru-sama... You _hate_ lying. I don't want you to have to do that just for this – I can go with you and subdue him into oblivion if I have to.”

It was probably very telling that she was willing to use the beads for Sesshōmaru-sama's sake, but not on her own for herself.

He held a hand up and shook his head lightly, “My idiot half-brother will leave after being informed of your more obvious training – which _will_ be happening, by the way, you will at least be learning the art of creating and using sutra and ofuda, even though you have already far surpassed the miko and monks that I have kept in a village beside my shiro in the use of your ki – and I will inform the rest of your group about the weapons training, and some other things.”

Kagome sighed and rested her chin in her palm, looking carefully at the daiyōkai who now – although he probably was unaware of this, Kagome had kept it very hidden – held her heart. The past year since the alliance had been hectic and intense and just plain crazy. Kagome had officially given up on ever finding a love relationship – she just wanted contentment – because _nobody_ , dead or alive, could compare to Sesshōmaru-sama, and even if he considered her more yōkai than ningen, even if they were friends... That didn't mean they would ever be _more_.

Finally, she responded, nodding slowly, “Okay... Well, I trust you to know what's best, so whatever you need to say, you can say. I'll stay here and watch over Rin while you get Shippō and my stuff. We can have a snuggle session when she wakes up.”

It was a while before he responded, and when he did he had a _very_ odd tone in his voice that made her pay attention immediately. “Kagome.”

“Yes, Sesshōmaru-sama? Is there anything you need from me? If so I will help in any way that I can.”

Sesshōmaru-sama was quiet for a few moments, as if he was gathering his words, and she watched him curiously, before he nodded firmly and looked at her intensely, no small amount of trepidation in his gaze – which was strange, but highly endearing, almost adorable, not that she would _ever_ admit that that word had even once, even in the slightest, been associated with Sesshōmaru-sama in her mind. “It would please this Sesshōmaru if you allowed him to claim you and your kit as pack.”

... _What_ _did he just say? Surely he can't be asking me what it sounds like he is, can he_? Her voice was small when she finally spoke, and she swallowed, because hadn't she just been thinking that this –  if she was interpreting this right – was impossible? “Pack? As in...”

He smirked lightly, the trepidation completely gone now and triumph filling his eyes as he traced a claw along the side of her face, making her gasp. Okay, so she had been very, very wrong; Sesshōmaru-sama was _fully_ aware of her feelings, and apparently _quite willing_ to nurture their growth as well, now that he knew she was amenable. Clearly her scent or something had given away her feelings of hope and pleasure at the idea of an actual _relationship_ with him. “Yes, Kagome. Pack. I wish to Court you. I... _have_ been Courting you for some time, in a way, although it was unconscious in the beginning. You are already Rin's mother in heart, and it would please me to have you be so in name as well. Do not ask this Sesshōmaru how, or why, or when this became possible or happened, because those questions are pointless; all that matters is that this decision has been coming for many moons, simply awaiting the right time to be put forth.”

_Oh,_ _Kami_.

Just around or over two years ago, when she had been a very young and innocent and brash fifteen year old who was still getting used to life in the Sengoku Jidai six months after falling into the well for the first time, such a proclamation (both his first statement and his response to her query) would have made Kagome _furious_. It was arrogant, condescending, presumptive. But Kagome had changed in the past year and a half since the defeat of Naraku. She had grown up; and she had also grown to know and love Sesshōmaru-sama for _who he was_ , which included that wonderful arrogance, strength, hunger for power – only rightly earned – impeccable manners, that mask that locked everybody out unless he decided you were worthy to see beyond... All those things that turned others away from Sesshōmaru-sama were things that Kagome adored about him. She didn't care about his wealth, she didn't crave his power, she didn't think she could miraculously change him – nor did she want to.

Especially because she had seen how he treated Rin – things _changed_ when you were pack, and even though she wasn't sure how it would happen with her, she looked forwards to learning even more about the daiyōkai she loved. Because there was _no way in hell_ that she could even _think_ about denying him this. Not when circumstances were how they were.

So instead of yelling, or growling, or rolling her eyes; instead of being shocked, or surprised, or stuttering out some denial, some disbelief that would be an insult to someone who _never_ spoke thoughtlessly, who _never_ made decisions he was less than absolutely certain of... She simply smiled, took his hand in hers, and kissed his palm. “Yes. Please. I would love nothing more, although... you're  absolutely sure you won't _regret_ this?”

She knew he was positive he wanted this _right now_ – it was  later on she was worried about. “When does this Sesshōmaru ever actively decide upon something he is unsure of?”

Kagome bit her lip and worried at it lightly, “Well... Never... but not that long ago I was just another filthy ningen. And your hanyō half-brother's wench. What if this interest is only temporary, is only because I am different?”

“Not that long ago this Sesshōmaru was blinded by classifications that make no difference. Now, I have a ningen daughter – and besides, Kagome, it has been said many times before that you are far more yōkai than ningen, mentally, which counts more than what your physical body is. Your difference is indeed intriguing, but meaningless in the long run as you belong _here_ now more than ever and it pleases this Sesshōmaru to find you fitting into his world more as time passes.”

She chuckled softly, shaking her head, “I suppose when you look at it that way... I take it this is part of what you're going to tell the others about?”

“Hn. This Sesshōmaru will ask your kit if he wishes to become Rin's brother, in front of the monk, the two taijiya, and the nekomata. They will understand the implications. This Sesshōmaru will extend an invitation to visit the shiro for them, although the hanyō is not allowed to come for at least a moon; you deserve a break from his presence.”

Kagome rolled her eyes at that, “I can't honestly say I disagree with you there. We've been arguing more than ever lately; he hates that I spend so much time with you.”

He nodded and removed his hand from hers, beckoning her to come to him. Kagome complied, slightly confused, walking over and sitting in front of him. He turned her around once she was seated, and soon his claws were raking along her scalp and combing through her hair, making her sigh softly in utter contentment. Having Sesshōmaru-sama groom her felt _so_ different than letting her son do so – and it felt **very** good. It wasn't long before she was leaning into his touch and humming softly, leading him to pull her into his lap, wrap his arms around her waist, and bury his nose into her shoulder.

Sesshōmaru-sama had taken her scent before, but this was _different_. He was memorising every nuance of it this time, taking in all the different elements... and Kagome was  thoroughly screwed because nobody before, not even her _son_ , had scented her enough to notice a small peculiarity that differentiated her from a normal ningen... In truth, the biggest reason she had answered yes, because if Kagome was a normal ningen, she would _never_ allow the one she loved to suffer because they had to watch her grow old and die.

Sure enough, after a moment he stopped, and asked, very seriously, very softly, “Kagome, why do you not smell of death like other ningen do? It is not even simply masked by another scent, it is just _non-existent_.”

She bit her lip softly and inhaled deeply, taking a deep breath to steel her resolve. Right. Time to get out The Big Secret that Kagome was positive not even _Miroku,_ _he-who-knows-all_ , was aware of yet, although she knew he would figure it out before _anybody else_ did. “A long time ago, I don't remember exactly when, but I think it was during the middle part of my first year here, I was told by someone named Kaguya that I was timeless. I didn't think much of it at the time, brushed the comment off as meaning that time spells and time barriers couldn't affect me and that, obviously, I have the ability to travel through time... She tried to absorb me into her so that she could take this ability from me. I didn't really dwell on it or anything though, like I said, I assumed it meant something else. But... After- Well not really after, but _at the end_ _of_ my first dream-vision... Kikyō was there.

“The actual Kikyō, not the one who was walking around trying to kill me for most of the time she was here. And, uh... She told me that I can't die. We don't know about actually being killed, but as far as disease or age... They can't kill me. It's probably because I was born with the Shikon inside of me. Um... _Please_ don't tell them about this. I can't...”

Kagome choked, tears filling her eyes and rolling down her cheeks as the reality that she constantly tried her _hardest_ not to think about was brought to her attention once more. “It... It's bad enough knowing that I have to watch them grow old and die. I... I don't want them to know yet. I don't know how they'll react, I don't want it to change things between us. I don't want to lose them because of this before I lose them permanently. They're my family, and I'll outlive them all.”

He didn't say anything. There were no useless platitudes, no nonsense words about how everything would be fine. Sesshōmaru-sama didn't _do_ that, and Kagome was glad of it. Instead he kissed her shoulder, pressing his cheek into her neck, and held her body against his, claws tracing circles on her sides and stomach underneath her shirt. It didn't take long for Kagome to calm down and stop crying, at which point she was turned around and a tongue cleared her cheeks of the lingering tears, a gesture which was beyond comforting to her. Sesshōmaru-sama had many more canine gestures that he used than Inuyasha did, and it was something that she liked. It reinforced the fact that he wasn't ningen, no matter how he looked.

Kagome smiled shakily at him and placed a kiss on the corner of his jaw, an appreciative, submissive gesture. She might be alpha bitch, but he was **the** alpha, and above everyone else in the pack. Then she nuzzled his chin and sighed, “Thank you, Sesshōmaru-sama.”

“No suffix, Kagome – not in private _or_ in public, unless you feel it to be necessary for introduction. You are my _Mate_ , not my subordinate. You are my equal, despite the fact that most of the men you are acquainted with treat you as chattel.”

“Let me guess – Kōga will no longer be calling me his woman?”

“No. You are _**M**_ _ **ine**_... and this Sesshōmaru is _yours_.”

She blushed lightly before grinning, “Also, you had better be careful – first you give me permission to call you simply Sesshōmaru, next thing you know I'm calling you Sess or Maru or Sesshō or Fluffy.”

Sesshōmaru scoffed and growled playfully at the last one, “Absolutely not, you will not call this Sesshōmaru something so absurd, especially not in public.”

“Hmm, fine, Fluffy- _sama_ then.”

The look he gave her made Kagome burst into giggles, and she leaned forwards, mouthing lightly at his neck, “Fine, I'll give up on Fluffy... But not on the others. Sesshōmaru is a stunning name, and suits you perfectly, but it's also a mouthful. I don't know how Rin did it before you adopted her and she began calling you Papa. _Oh_ , I can't _wait_ for that with Shippō! He already looks up to you like a father figure, and I let him because I figured you were as close as he would get – it wasn't like anyone else could be a better influence on him than you, after all. And I had given up on any relationship I might have ending in anything more than simple contentment, because, let's face it, I am  completely in love with you, and there is no one alive in existence who can compare to you... Aaaand I am just _feeding_ your ego right now, aren't I?”

She pulled up to stare at him and sure enough he had an _impossible_ smirk on his face, and a very proud look in his eyes... But Kagome forgave him for it, because Sesshōmaru _was_ the best, after all. Besides, he might be arrogant and proud, but he wasn't mean about it – not to her, anyway. He'd even stopped being rude to Inuyasha about it ever since the battle with Naraku ended and Kagome had asked him that question about the children when he took her to them – Sesshōmaru hadn't begun even one fight with his half-brother since then; every fight had been started by Inuyasha... and ended by Kagome.

Ah, the wonders of subjugation beads.

“If you are going to be calling this Sesshōmaru undignified names, he shall have to return the favour.”

He lightly bit ( _not_ nipped – ear nips were punishment – _bit_ ) her ear and she shivered, clinging to his haori and wondering what manner of indignities she would suffer because of her wish for nicknames for her soon-to-be-mate. “Like?”

“Hn... Little one, kitten, and precious will do. And we shall both use _aite_ once we have mated.”

Aite... partner... or opponent. That was a _big step_ though, wow. It actually fit well – in yōkai culture your mate should be your equal and your match; which meant they could oppose you as well as work with you, even if there was rarely any true opposition with well-matched mates. Aite was used between mates that were bonded and who were willing to speak for each other and take complete responsibility for the actions and words of each other, including dealing with the consequences of those actions and words. It was a serious step but Kagome and Sesshōmaru read and worked with each other _so well_ already that she was completely confident that they could be aite very well – hell, they might already be aite, if she was honest with herself.

Then the rest of the names registered, and Kagome squeaked and blushed, hiding her face in his shoulder, “H-hey, since when are you a fan of pet names? Oh this is so embarrassing, I don't deserve to be called adorable things, Sesshō. And seriously, _kitten_? You're _inu_ for fuck's sake!”

“Yes. You are very much like a kitten, Kagome, despite all the kitsune and inu gestures you have been learning. And as for “pet” names, they suit you far too well for this Sesshōmaru to care about his appearance rather than using them for you.”

“Ugh, I am so screwed. I thought I escaped the indignities of pet names, because surely _the_ Sesshōmaru-sama would be above such commonplaces.”

He scoffed lightly, and Kagome could practically _feel_ him rolling his eyes, “Hardly, there has just been no one that I cared to use them with until you. It is getting late – this Sesshōmaru should go fetch our son.”

Kagome grinned and giggled at that, kissing the side of his neck and nuzzling it before looking up at him, “Someone is awfully certain of the outcome of this trip... Then again, I've given you no reason to be anything _but_ certain, so it is justified. Bleh, I wish it was already over and done with and we were at your shiro... Hey, Sesshōmaru...? What are we going to do about Inuyasha?”

The daiyōkai cupped her cheek and tilted her head upwards, resting his forehead against hers lightly, comfortingly. “It has been _six_ _full_ _seasons_ since Naraku was defeated, with you making absolutely no move towards changing or deepening the relationship. Inuyasha is likely already aware that you no longer wish for romance with him, my brother might be a fool, but he is not _that_ stupid. Similarly, he is also aware of my interest, or he would not continue initiating fights whenever I visit.”

She bit her lip, looking down until claws pricked her skin, forcing her to stare into those intense pools of gold, “So... Since I haven't made a move in over a year and a half... He'll be expecting us to be together by the time he is allowed to visit?”

“Indeed, unless he purposely blinds himself to the possibility – most unfortunately that is just as likely. He may be most unpleasant about it and try to force you to return to his side... Or he may abandon you. Or both. Whatever happens, this Sesshōmaru will not allow him to hurt you any more than he already has, Kagome.”

Cerulean eyes rolled as Kagome scoffed, “I don't care about _that_ , I care about making sure he doesn't feel like _I'm_ abandoning _him_ , I care about not hurting him. He's been hurt enough in his life already, he doesn't need me adding to that... Even though I'm not willing to be what he wants me to be. If I'm honest... The only reason I originally had enough courage to deny him a relationship when I noticed he was trying to initiate one is because he would have eventually found out that I didn't love him any more, and that would hurt worse than saying “no” before things get that far ever could.”

“Hn... Even so.”

Soft lips pressed against even softer lips, and Kagome hissed lightly, threading her fingers through curtains of silver silk just as his claws raked gently over her scalp and his slender fingers entangled themselves in her inky locks. Kagome had kissed Inuyasha before, once, to save him, but that had _nothing_ on this. Sesshōmaru's kiss was fire – it burned. It was lightning – it tingled and _stung_ most delightfully. It was also utterly all-encompassing and wholly consuming, as his yōki completely enveloped her, setting her blood and body alight, making her own ki wrap around him, swallow him whole just as he was doing to her. By the time Sesshōmaru deemed the kiss done with, Kagome was trembling, panting, and whimpering, her eyes hazy with pleasure and lust.

Somehow, Kagome didn't think they would be waiting very long before they mated. She found herself quite happily not caring one whit about that.

She lifted a hand, disentangling it from his so soft hair, and traced his stripes, watching as the action made his eyes burn just as his kiss had burned her. Knowing he took pleasure in her slight disorientation, in her desire-filled movements, in her lust hazed eyes. His voice was softer and rougher as he spoke, leaning into her touch, “Mine... and yours.”

Kagome smiled at his words and pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw; a sign of gratitude and acceptance, as well as submission, as all kisses near the jaw were. “Yes. I am yours, with all my soul, and you are mine – consumed by our love. Now; go fetch our son while I go snuggle with our daughter. Oh, before you go, um... Rin knows... Right?”

“And approves. She was most pleased when this Sesshōmaru asked if she would like you for a mother.”

“Oh, good. That makes things easier.”

They reluctantly parted from each other, and Kagome padded over to Ah-Un and laid down next to her sleeping, recovering daughter, wrapping the slender child up in her arms and stroking through her hair, humming a lullaby.

\- - -

Sesshōmaru smiled imperceptibly as he heard his mate—it did not matter that they had not yet mated, she was his _mate_ in all ways excepting the bond—singing to his daughter, walking sedately towards the camp that his half-brother's group was using while Kagome was healing his daughter. Normally, they would simply continue on their journey and Sesshōmaru would deposit Kagome and Shippō back with them when her job was finished; but since Rin had been too sick to allow Shippō to stay around with them (“I don't _care_ that yōkai don't get ningen illnesses, you will _not_ be coming with me this time, Shippō!”), she had forced Inuyasha to promise that he wouldn't travel until she was done. Kagome was a _very_ good mother. To both of the children – Sesshōmaru knew full well that it had been for Rin's sake that the hyperactive fox kit had been made to stay behind this time; Rin needed _rest_ , not _distraction_.

The journey only took a short while, but it was enough time that the group was awake and moving about by the time Sesshōmaru arrived. As expected, the first person to react to his presence was a small reddish-brown (and blue) bundle flying towards him and climbing up his side with a familiarity that **very** obviously shocked everyone in the group – except the monk, who looked far too smug, which wasn't much of a surprise due to his Kagome-given nickname;Sesshōmaru didn't mind that though, the monk and the younger taijiya were incredibly acceptable company for ningen. The older taijiya would be too if she weren't so blatantly pro-ningen in her outlook.

He could understand the shock – the kit was usually not so physical with him when they were with the Inutachi; only when they were with Sesshōmaru's small pack did he treat Sesshōmaru like a normal being and use him as a climbing post as well as fully treating him like he would a father – unsurprising since the kit had lacked such an influence in his life for the past two and a half years. He must be dreadfully missing his mother – and, Sesshōmaru admitted to himself, quite possibly _him_ as well. After all, he had purposely been acting more of a father figure to Shippō once he realised at the alliance creation that his attraction to the miko might eventually be returned, and like he had just been thinking – Shippō responded beautifully to his attentions and craved his presence as more than just some distant figure. “Sesshōmaru-sama! How is Rin-ne? Is she any better? Where is Mama? Oh! Wait, are you picking me up to go see Mama and Rin-ne?”

“Shippō.”

The kit quieted at that, stilling on his shoulder, and Sesshōmaru placed a hand on his soon-to-be son's head, nodding as he was given an apology. “Sorry, Sesshōmaru-sama. This Shippō will allow you to finish your business.”

“Hn.”

Shippō squirmed down to the ground and ran over to the fire, diligently checking the fish cooking around it with a familiarity born of repetition. “A group of displeased rogues unhappy with this Sesshōmaru's formal adoption of Rin attacked camp yesterday just before midday. As per alliance terms, this Sesshōmaru will be taking Kagome and Shippō to his shiro for recovery from the attack – as well as training. This Sesshōmaru feels it is far past time that the miko learned how to better harness her power, only there was no chance before to have her instructed.”

The kit was grinning before he stilled his face – he knew that his mama was already _well_ trained, especially since Sesshōmaru-sama had begun helping her, and that there was more going on than meets the eye, obviously. Inuyasha, however, was not so impressed, “Keh! Bitch can't do anything right, first she abandons us and now she has to be fuckin' healed? What bullshit. Oh well, it's about damn time she learned how to use her fuckin' powers and stopped bein' so useless.”

Then the hanyō ran off into the trees, cursing the entire way. Really, must he be so unpleasant constantly? Cursing was fine when used for emphasis but not when used all the time, as Inuyasha did. It was most unbecoming and distasteful, not to mention it dishonoured his blood. Sesshōmaru waited until he could no longer hear the running feet of his half-brother (meaning his hanyō brother was well out of earshot for the physical abilities he had) before he spoke again. “Shippō.”

The auburn haired kit padded over to him and looked up solemnly, “Thank you for letting Mama and me go to your shiro, Sesshōmaru-sama. She must have really helped a lot with protecting Rin if you're considering _that_ to be the direct aid that lets us go get training.”

“Hn. You are well aware of the ways in which your mother could have aided this Sesshōmaru after an attack.”

Meaning she had healed him, in the manner she usually healed her son, because there was no other way in which she could heal him that would be considered direct aid, as his own abilities would still be what healed his body in any other case. “Now, on to business. This Sesshōmaru has a request for you, kit.”

Those green eyes filled with gleeful anticipation as Shippō squirmed, uncaring of the looks that their conversation was garnering. His voice was breathy with hope when he spoke, “This Shippō will do **anything** he can to help, Sesshōmaru-sama.”

It was _very_ difficult not to respond to that eagerness. “Shippō, this Sesshōmaru would be pleased if you were to become Rin's brother.”

“R-really?”

Sesshōmaru held back his smirk at the obvious hope, satisfaction, and happiness in that one word, lowering himself enough to crouch down and place his hand on the kit's head, responding solemnly. “Truly. Kagome has agreed, so long as you approve.”

“Yes, please! This Shippō would love for Sesshōmaru-sama to be his papa and for Rin-ne to be his ane-san for proper! Mama has loved Sesshōmaru-sama for _such_ a long time, and wants to be Rin-ne's mama as well, Shippō can see it very clearly whenever she looks at you two.”

“This Sesshōmaru will mark you now – it will only hurt a little.”

“Understood, Papa.”

It was pleasant to have a son call him that, but Sesshōmaru wasn't surprised by that – it had been just as pleasant the first time Rin called him that. He flashed a very small smile at the kit before he pulled his marking poison up into his claw, waiting until it was glowing sufficiently before placing the claw tip against Shippō's forehead, burning a crescent moon shape into the skin there. Shippō didn't even flinch, and within moments the burn had been replaced with a lavender crescent marking that matched the one held on Sesshōmaru and Rin's foreheads. Adoration was shining in his son's gaze and he ruffled the soft auburn bangs before picking the kit up and standing, allowing Shippō to clamber up his arm to his shoulder before inclining his head towards the mostly-shocked pack around him.

The monk was, predictably, the first one to speak – and unfazed. Kagome regularly called him “Miroku, he-who-knows-all” or just “he-who-knows-all” in affectionate frustration, so this was relatively unsurprising. “Kōga will be disappointed that Kagome was “stolen” from him by someone he didn't even realise was a rival.”

“Hn. The ōkami will get over it; Kagome was never his to begin with, she was always her own. She is still her own; she is simply mine in addition to that.”

“It is good that you can see that, Sesshōmaru-sama. I think that was part of the reason her feelings for Inuyasha did not hold up, because he had difficulty acknowledging that she belonged firstmost to herself before anyone else. After all, most women these days are, unfortunately, property. Plus he had difficulty seeing that she wasn't Kikyō, despite her initial appearance. He still does not see, really.”

Sesshōmaru was willing to let these people see him scoff, although he did not allow himself to relax enough to roll his eyes. “Kagome would castrate this Sesshōmaru if he presumed to treat her as anything other than an equal and a treasured mate.”

Shippō giggled at that, his little claws gripping onto Sesshōmaru's hair, “Yeah, Mama would throw a fit; that's why Papa has always treated her like an equal ever since even before the big battle.”

The female taijiya seemed to break some at this, holding her hands up and waving them around lightly, “Whoa, just, wait- _What_ is going _on_ here? When did **this** happen? How long has this been  going on? Inuyasha is going to pitch a _fit_ when he finds out, and since when, just, gah!”

Miroku chuckled softly and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Calm down, Sango. I will explain. Kagome earned the exalted Lord's respect when she allowed him to treat her wound at the final battle – if not before then. Ever since then they have been nurturing a slowly-growing friendship. Kagome allying with Sesshōmaru a year ago cemented their friendship and started them on the path to more. Sesshōmaru is simply solidifying things.”

“Sango, Mama has been in love with Papa for a very long time now, and even told me that I wouldn't have anyone better to look up to and consider a father; because on the off chance she ended up with anyone else, they still couldn't compare to Sesshōmaru-sama.”

The monk looked interested at that, probably because the unintentional implication was outside of his knowledge, “So did Kagome realise her feelings were reciprocated, after all?”

Shippō shook his head slowly, “Oh, no... I did, 'specially when Kirara made Papa realise he'd unconsciously begun Courting her and he just kept doing it instead of stopping, but Mama thought that Papa was _way_ out of her league... She just knew that she would always compare everyone else to him, and was expecting to either end up alone or with someone she didn't actually love.”

“That's... Depressing, but sweet.”

“Nah, Kohaku, it isn't that depressing if you realise how Mama is. She said as long as Sesshōmaru-sama was in her life, she would be blissfully happy, because his friendship and respect was the rarest and most precious thing in the world. Mama's heart is just that big.”

“Sango.”

The taijiya looked over at him, her expression a strange mixture of surprise, wonder, and frustration. “Yes, Sesshōmaru-sama?”

“Inuyasha is well aware of the situation between Kagome and this Sesshōmaru, although he is likely expecting this Sesshōmaru to be too prideful to ever take her as pack, and unaware that this Sesshōmaru's interest is reciprocated. Why do you think he constantly tries to start fights whenever this Sesshōmaru brings Rin to visit or comes to fetch Kagome and our son? He is most displeased with my interest in her.”

She ran a hand through her ponytail and pulled on the dark hair, frowning lightly before plopping down onto a log, “Okay... but still, how come I wasn't even aware of the change in her feelings?”

“Mama loves you like a sister, Sango, but she didn't wanna tell _anyone_ because she didn't want to have anyone trying to convince her to change her feelings or settle for Inuyasha or Kōga or anything like that. She didn't want anybody influencing her feelings. It took a lot of time for her to let me know how she felt, and she only ever did because I could see it without her telling me. I had to ask if she loved Papa before she admitted it to me.”

“Hn. Kagome _is_ the most stubborn onna to walk this earth.”

“I... I guess I can see that. It isn't like she has stopped confiding in me altogether... I did think it was a little weird that she wasn't talking about romance any more but I thought maybe her and Inuyasha had talked things over and come to a decision she was happy with.”

Sesshōmaru tilted his head as Miroku scoffed and shook his head, leaning against the placid and unruffled nekomata. As Shippō had stated – and Sango had clearly missed – Kirara had been the one to make him aware that he had begun actively Courting Kagome, and had approved strongly of Sesshōmaru taking that step in their budding relationship. “Inuyasha is a bit too immature to do that, Sango. They would either be obviously a couple or have split up in a wretched fight if that had happened.”

“What is that supposed to mean? Inuyasha isn't a child!”

“The monk is correct, taijiya. Inuyasha is not ningen. He ages and matures slower – approximately ten years must pass for him to age how ningen do in just one; After all, he was alive for one hundred and fifty years before his fifty year sealing that Kagome broke – did you never make that connection? Kagome has matured much past her age, while Inuyasha is still emotionally close to the same as he was when they met; still fifteen; mature in this era and adult, but not as mature as he could and will eventually become. If things between them are cleared up in any way besides confrontation with reality, they would no longer be friends. This Sesshōmaru might find his brother to often be distasteful and brash, but Kagome considers him a close friend; their separation is to be avoided at all costs, which is why, although the rest of you have an open invitation to the shiro, the hanyō may not come until a moon has passed. That is sufficient enough time that he will hopefully feel less betrayed upon seeing her as my mate.”

She blinked a little at that, obviously surprised at the information. “Huh... Okay, but you said he already knew, so why would he feel betrayed at all?”

“Because, Sango, it's like this: Inuyasha knows that Mama doesn't love him like she used to any more, but he hasn't realised that she's in love with Papa yet, and he hasn't thought about the fact that she'd eventually move on enough that she'd be with someone else even though he still wants to be with her. He thinks that _she_ should stay single until _he_ moves on, too, and he assumes that she will because Mama is too nice for her own good and hasn't told Inuyasha to his face that she doesn't love him like that any more.”

The younger taijiya was the one to respond to _that_ bold statement from his perceptive kit, shaking his head lightly, “If that is the case, Inuyasha-san is being very selfish. We don't live that long, for us to be able to wait like that.”

“Which is why this Sesshōmaru made his move _now_. Make no mention of this to the hanyō; visit as you please, but bring the entire group in a moon or so. Goodbye.”

Sesshōmaru left then, walking sedately out of the camp; just in time too, as he heard his half-brother's footsteps on their way back towards the group. It was time to go home with his family.

\- - -

**A/N:** Just a note; I don't write typical romance. Sure, there will be romance _in_ the fic (hence the genre), but because for me personally, when I fall for someone I don't notice until suddenly one day instead of goodnight I find myself almost telling someone I thought was _just a friend_ that I love them, I don't feel comfortable trying to write a **developing** romance between people. I will be  showing romance but not developing it.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Some minor sexual content in the chapter – it's short, not incredibly descriptive, and pretty easily skipped over.

\- - -

Kagome ran towards her temporary sparring partner – tumbling forward, landing on her free hand, pushing herself up into the air, flipping over his head, landing behind him, and slamming her palm into his back. She smirked to herself as the force of her strike made him stumble lightly. Then she rapidly whirled around his side towards his front and forced her kodachi up towards him, wrinkling her nose when he managed to bring his own katana down and block her move. Damn.

The black haired miko was already bored with this, she much preferred sparring with her mate. She had to hold back and restrain her enhanced abilities now whenever she was up against anyone else. Ever since the monks in Sesshōmaru's employ (they didn't reside in the actual shiro, but had temporarily lived in a village outside of his home) taught her how to permanently tie a portion of her reiki into enhancing her senses and physical abilities, she had far outclassed even most yōkai – quite on purpose, since she wanted to be able to keep up with her beloved. Now she didn't have to focus or concentrate to hold her ki in her physical form in order to change her strength, speed, and senses; it was permanently changed to be more than ningen.

Once she found that out, she had been beyond pleased, even though it meant re-learning her whole body – so that she could hold back when necessary, so that she could regulate her new form, so that she could control her skills in order to pass herself off as a regular ningen when she needed to. Of course, even before the seal had been broken, Kagome had been _far_ from being a regular ningen. Even if only by her outlook and the people she preferred to keep company with – normal ningen did _not_ prefer yōkai to their own kind. Kagome, however... Well, she'd always been fascinated and entranced by the fantastic.

Which made living at the shiro a _wonderful_ experience. She and Rin were the only ningen permanently in residence; although there were some hanyō living here as well, and many of the ningen nobles came to have Sesshōmaru address large problems. It turned out that not all hanyō had the same instabilities that Inuyasha did – their parents were far more matched in power than Toga-san and Izayoi-san had been. If Izayoi had been powerful – say, a strong miko, simply having a large amount of reiki, or having an exceptionally strong will, etc. – Inuyasha would not have the problems he did with his yōkai blood attempting to take over. They would probably be waiting to have children until their pup and kit were older, but Sesshōmaru had reassured her that _their_ pups would not suffer in the way that Inuyasha did – and that he intended for her to give him _many_ children. That had flustered her for an entire day, especially with him subtly teasing her and flirting with her over it.

Most of the yōkai tended to stay away from them ever since word of the attack on Rin had spread – and how it had ended (apparently, Sess had intentionally let two of the attackers leave, for this purpose) – although there had been a few attacks... All of which were taken care of by Kagome either purifying the dumb-ass assassins or pounding the fools with the temerity to personally confront her into submission. She strongly preferred the latter because after three such incidents... Well, suddenly the yōkai in the court decided that they'd _rather not_ go up against a ningen onna that could beat their asses _even without_ tapping into her miko abilities. Learning hand-to-hand from _Sesshōmaru_ gave her the advantage that nobody else had a chance of beating her. Of course, finding out how strong of a miko Kagome was had dissuaded the lingering fools that continued to believe her unworthy from attacking her.

Although; Sesshōmaru had even stronger support from a lot of yōkai when he had proved to be completely immune to her powers, _before_ they had mated. When four yōkai in the same room had turned to dust, and _he_ had come out unscathed... It left an impression on people. Of course, she hadn't been using her full powers, and, unbeknownst to most people, yōkai tended to develop an immunity to those with spiritual powers who they spent a large amount of time with – he might not have naturally been immune to her stronger abilities, but the time they spent together due to their alliance meant he was now; luckily no monk or miko existed now who was anywhere close to as strong as she had been even when she was sealed, so he was safe from any miko or monk trying to purify him. Unfortunately, however, since her miko-ki was not reiryoku she didn't know if it granted him immunity to any purification or not now they were mated. If it had been reiryoku he would have been immune to any spiritual ki. But considering that even the purifying barrier at Mt. Hakurei had hardly affected him once he got used to it, he was probably damn safe from anyone attempting to purify him, even in big groups.

There were still a large amount of yōkai in the shiro that despised her and Rin, but it hadn't even taken persuasion from Sesshōmaru to stop the assassination attempts. Of course, Sess had still threatened disturbing things if anyone harmed them, but that was guaranteed – and, as he promised after the first attempt on her life, it hadn't happened until she proved she could take care of herself. Her mate really was wonderful for allowing her to do that, because it went against every single one of his inu instincts to allow her to defend herself with absolutely no interference at all from him. Not that he was crazy overprotective, not at all. He acknowledged her strength and ability to protect herself. But he needed to be able to protect her in some ways, at least.

Especially since she had a tendency to get kidnapped by people she couldn't just purify to death.

Kagome was brought out of her thoughts by sparks sliding between the two blades, and she smirked, deciding to end this session. Sesshōmaru was only pairing her against Takeo-kun to view her unique form and technique from an outside perspective rather than from experiencing it first-hand anyway, and since Kagome had somehow ended up being a complete natural with the kodachi (she was still struggling to learn how to use her daggers fluidly, as well as learning the traditional samurai kata for katana, but she refused to give up just because it was difficult compared to her wonderful kodachi) she knew that there would be very little correction needed. So, without any warning, Kagome pulled her blade back, the sudden removal of resistance causing Takeo-kun to stumble forward.

Then Kagome spun around to give her movement more force without tapping into strength more than Takeo-kun's, and forced her kodachi against his again. The unexpected force made him trip backwards, causing the magenta eyed yōkai to fall flat on his back. She flipped over top of him and slid her kodachi between his arms, pressing the tip against the underside of his chin with a ruthless glint in her eyes. “Surrender.”

Golden blonde hair spread out against the floor of the dojo as he tilted his head back in submission, an approving look in his eyes, and he dropped his katana. “I surrender, Kagome-sama.”

She pulled away and stepped away from him, picking up his blade and twirling it around as he hefted himself up; she handed it to him once he was standing, nodding towards him. “Good match, Takeo-kun. Thank you for your patience. I will see you around later.”

The guardsman smiled at her and nodded his head, “It was my pleasure, Kagome-sama. Thank you for allowing me to spar with your mate, Sesshōmaru-sama.”

Then he bowed and left the dojo, and Kagome sheathed her sword, walking over to her mate. “Your friends will be surprised when they see us sparring tomorrow, little one. Your technique is astonishing for one with so little practical experience.”

“Pft, first off, I have an _amazing_ instructor, and secondly, I **have** been taught hand-to-hand combat – which got me  very used to form and technique – over the past year. In addition to that, you _changed_ how you taught me and what you taught me so it fit me better, just because you _could_. My form and technique is all there because you taught me differently – although, thank you for that, because I love it.”

Her mate smirked down at her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling her scent, a pleased growl rumbling through his chest. “This is true. It pleases this Sesshōmaru that his training paid off so well; and that his mate is so talented.”

She blushed and hid her face in his haori, smiling softly at the compliment – she still wasn't used to thinking of herself positively despite his continued faith in her competence ever since the initial alliance against Naraku began, although it was slowly becoming more common, due to the sheer amount of compliments she took in on a daily basis. It turned out that once she was officially pack, Sesshōmaru became _incredibly and astonishingly_ free with his affections and attentions towards her, when they were alone or just with their small pack. “I still suck with daggers and katana.”

“You do not “suck”, your level is completely average for someone just learning; you are simply naturally adept with your kodachi, and thus it feels like you are making less headway with learning how to use your daggers and a katana than you actually are.”

“Hn.”

She sighed and inhaled deeply, taking in her mate's scent as he was doing to her. Sesshōmaru smelled like a summer storm overlaid by an acid-tinged scent of sheer power, and it was absolutely addicting – Kagome might not have been born inu, but she was certainly picking up the traits frighteningly fast. She no longer knew what she would do without the gestures, habits, body language, and noises that were now a regular, integral part of her life, had been even before coming to the shiro. Especially when it became clear that kitsune gestures were extremely similar to inu gestures – Kagome was an even better mother to her kit than she had been in the two and a half years she had had him before now. Yes, she'd been using the gestures for a while now, but never so constantly before.

Needless to say, Sesshōmaru was _incredibly_ smug about how yōkai she had become in the past month, and about how easy it had been for her to pick things up. She could growl with the best of them now. She knew where to nip and flick her pup and kit to punish them – in more places than just the ears. She could sleep in a pack pile with the best of them. She instinctively understood how to change her posture when apologising to Sesshōmaru so that she was being submissive, but not completely so – as alpha bitch of the pack, she didn't need to be as submissive as she would have if she weren't Sesshōmaru's mate; or, as in the beginning, his intended.

It had really changed Kagome's view on some of the ways Inuyasha acted once she began learning this new “language” over the past year. Definitely not all of them, but some of the things he did and ways he acted became a lot clearer, especially the things that were incomplete or twisted gestures; he hadn't had anyone to teach him properly, after all. Kagome very strongly suspected that due to being raised by Izayoi, he ignored any yōkai instincts except the ones that kept him out of physical danger... Which was beyond unhealthy.

Hopefully he would learn the right way to act by observing their pack when they joined back up with him and “his” group – assuming he didn't decide he never wanted to see her again once he found out Kagome had mated Sesshōmaru last fortnight.

That thought brought Kagome's mind to a screeching halt and she shivered, clinging to her mate tightly. Fuck, she had forgotten about Inuyasha coming to visit tomorrow; now she was worried again. Sesshōmaru, sensing her worry (and knowing what it was about, the near-psychic jerk) changed his growl to one more aimed towards comfort, and picked her up, licking her cheek and nuzzling into her shoulder lightly before striding out of the empty private dojo. “Everything will be fine, koishi. I promise, little one, he will survive and so will you. You are strong enough to handle this. _Both_ of you are; even if he reacts negatively.”

Kagome simply buried her face into his kimono, arms wrapped around his neck tightly and fingers threading through his silken hair. Kagome had pretty much expected to never hear a comforting thing from Sesshōmaru, but it turned out that even one in such a position as he was in acted _completely_ different around his pack than he did in public if they were social creatures like inu. He never lied, and never said comforting things that he didn't believe, but if he did believe something that would comfort her, he would tell her. It had really changed the dynamic – in a _great_ way. Kagome had never wanted to change Sess, but the ways in which he changed _himself_ – at least in private, they had a façade to keep up in public, after all, to an extent anyhow – made their relationship even more special, wonderful, loving, and precious to her.

Sesshōmaru kept up the soft, comforting growling, and soon, despite the way her mind was going a thousand miles a minute with worst case scenarios ending with her losing her friends forever, she found herself relaxing. Her body melted against his, her mind slowed down, her eyes kept drifting closed for long moments before she remembered to open them again. It didn't take long for them to arrive in the private family gardens, and soon she was settled in her love's lap, being held tightly as he scented her thoroughly, his growling never ceasing.

It was strange, how she felt more comforted by a wordless noise that would frighten someone “normal” than she did by pretty (but unfailingly honest) words. And soon the comfort mixed with the stress and she was falling, falling, falling, her eyes closing, her breath evening out, and her body steadying as she dozed off into a gentle sleep. Sesshōmaru simply smiled down at his mate, claws tracing patterns on her sakura blossom patterned kimono, and soon he closed his own eyes – not to sleep, but to simply enjoy the late morning air, cool shade, and soft breeze, taking in the scent of flowers and plants throughout their private paradise. It wasn't that long before two new scents filtered in – foxfire and oak sap intermixed with the particular scent that naturally shapeshifting yōkai _all_ held, and a fresh, clean scent that had no name he could think of that was overlaid with the scent of flowers – and soon his children were crouched beside him.

“Shh, Rin-ne, we don't wanna wake Mama up; she must be really worried about tomorrow if she got tired enough to sleep before nap time. Papa is so nice to help her calm down and protect her.”

“Shippō-kun, why is Mama worried? Aren't they her friends that are visiting?”

A clawed hand rested on Kagome's hakama as the little kitsune settled by his adopted father and mother, his adopted sister settling in beside him. Despite the fact that none of them were related by blood from birth, he felt that his family was more real than a lot of other families in the court; they were certainly happier, loved each other more, and, most importantly, had _chosen_ each other. They were family because they _wanted_ to be, not because they **had** to be. He still loved his birth mother and father distantly, but he was so  happy that he was able to have a new Mama and Papa after they died; he just _knew_ that his first Mama and Papa had sent him to Kagome and Sesshōmaru-sama.

Just like he had just _known_ that Sesshōmaru-sama was interested in his mama when she made the alliance, and that he _had_ to let Sesshōmaru-sama see that his mama was  available. Hence why he had spoken up even though things would have gone perfectly smoothly without his involvement – they just wouldn't've happened as _fast_ as Shippō wanted them to happen.

“They are friends, Rin-ne, but one of them wants to be together with Mama like Papa is, only Mama doesn't love him that way any more. Mama is afraid to hurt him – she does still love him, after all, only like a brother now, which is fitting because he's Papa's half-brother.”

The little girl tilted her head, soft brown eyes wide and understanding. “So Mama is worried that Uncle Inuyasha will be mad at her for mating with Papa, and not want to be her friend any more? Even though _nobody_ could love and cherish Mama as good as Papa can?”

“Exactly! I think Mama's been worrying more than she lets us know, because Mama doesn't want us worrying over her. But nothing slips past Papa, does it, Papa?”

Sesshōmaru cracked one eye open with a trace of a smile – whenever he was sitting against a tree with his eyes closed, it was an unobtrusive signal to his family that he was willing to listen to them having conversations about things they didn't want to directly tell or ask him about, but felt he needed to know. It was a good way to step around his naturally intimidating nature – they _knew_ he wasn't asleep, and he  knew they were essentially talking to him. Some conversations, like this one, were more for the benefit of the children than for himself, though; Rin and Shippō often explained things to each other in his presence so that if he felt the one getting the explanation didn't understand well enough, he could attempt to clarify things.

Rin had this well in hand, however, so Sesshōmaru simply nodded to Shippō's question with a soft, “Hn. She will be awake before lunch, and hopefully less worried. Also, young ones, your mama is not just worried about Inuyasha – she fears the others in her previous pack will be upset with her for hurting him. She fails to truly understand that _she_ was their alpha, and thus, they will side with _her_ over Inuyasha.”

The young kitsune nodded and rested his head against Kagome's legs, while Rin rested her own against Sesshōmaru's, laying out on the grass comfortably so they could nap with their Mama, despite it being several hours before their usual nap time. As soon as they were settled in he began growling again, a soft, gentle growl that was meant to be a lullaby, and worked as one perfectly, even for his ningen pack-mates. Rin and Kagome were, at least mentally, _incredibly_ yōkai – and incredibly **inu** as well. He had never met ningen as loyal and devoted as they were.

Although her friends did come relatively close – he strongly suspected that their loyalty would be tested tomorrow – and as he had informed his children, he knew that if his fool half-brother made them choose, Kagome would be the one that her ningen pack stayed with; not the hanyō. _Especially_ the monk – Sesshōmaru suspected strongly that there was no loyalty whatsoever towards Inuyasha on Miroku's part, what with how condescending he was to the hanyō.

The daiyōkai looked down at his small, but very loved, pack; his _family,_ and was content, sliding his mokomoko-sama out from behind him to curl around Kagome's back, before manoeuvring the rest of it to cuddle under his children's heads, giving them a soft pillow to rest against.

All was right in the world, for now.

\- - -

Kagome's eyes opened blearily and she yawned, blinking slowly as her surroundings came into focus around her. The room was a contrast of light and dark; cream-coloured walls with stunning crimson calligraphy haiku decorating them, cherry wood furniture, floors, and trim. Swathes of crimson silk decorated the bed she and her pack were on. Black and white pillows offered contrast to the rest of the bed. Warm brown rugs covered the polished wooden floor to keep the chill away from sensitive ningen feet.

Her room was _gorgeous_. Despite personally having a preference for travelling across the land and sleeping under the stars, Kagome wondered how Sesshōmaru ever had the willpower to leave his beautiful home.

Then again, being at the shiro meant dealing with the court and the nobles, dealing with paperwork, and having servants constantly underfoot; although, admittedly she adored the servants here, and unbeknownst to her, they adored her just as much, the same with Rin. Still, there was almost no genuine privacy whatsoever.

Okay, so maybe Kagome could see perfectly clearly exactly why Sesshōmaru spent most of his time on patrols rather than here.

Sighing, the petite (at least compared to Sesshōmaru and yōkai females – she was taller than most ningen females in this era, now, which was convenient, as it made her seem more authoritative) woman curled back into her love's chest, growling happily when his arms tightened around her and his mokomoko-sama moved to her front and slid along her body, the soft fur tickling her skin wherever her yukata was parted. She wiggled back further, trying to get as little distance as possible in between them, until she heard a soft squeal and laughed; Shippō was up, and as per usual, tickling his big sister to wake _her_ up as well. Everyone knew that Rin was an early bird for a child, but Shippō was _much_ more of an early riser than she naturally was, being yōkai and needing less sleep than any ningen did, despite his sleeping habits—and Rin loved having her little brother wake her up this way; they really were too adorable with each other.

It had taken a little while to get used to sleeping like pack most of the time, but now Kagome usually felt detached and somewhat empty when she didn't have her children sleeping with her throughout the night. When she talked to her mate about it he confessed that he felt similarly; if they wanted some alone time with each other, they simply had a servant bring the children in as they were heading to sleep. Kagome didn't know how they were going to manage alone time when they were on patrol, but her beloved was incredibly resourceful; he would think of something. Maybe they would find an area away from the main camp and leave the children with Ah-Un, who were fiercely protective of them.

Suddenly, Rin was climbing over the two of them and grabbing onto mokomoko-sama, grinning up at Kagome so sweetly that she had no choice but to cuddle the little girl for being so adorable, squealing gently (both Kagome and Rin had learned to be _very_ quiet most of the time; Kagome especially once her reiki had permanently enhanced her senses. Her own hearing was incredibly sensitive now, and she felt a little bad about yelling at Inuyasha so much) and kissing her hair, taking in the wild-flower scent that lingered on her daughter. Rin smelled clean and fresh, like… Ah!Like a fall breeze, and the scent of flowers stuck on her constantly, because there wasn't a single day that passed that Rin didn't go outside to play with her beloved flowers.

Shippō came barrelling into them and Kagome growled playfully at him, raking her fingers through his tail fur before grabbing him and rolling onto her back; completely uncaring that her yukata was half open. This was pack, after all – and yōkai had no problems with modesty and body image, unlike ningen did. It had been really awkward to Kagome at first, but in the end, all it had taken was a group bath to change her mind. They still slept in yukata but nobody cared if they slid open or were loose.

Now bathing and sleeping together was the most natural thing in the world. “Good morning, sweetlings. Did you sleep well? Was mokomoko-sama soft and snuggly last night? It must have been since I didn't wake up with my kit and my pup clinging to me like usual.”

Rin and Shippō giggled at that, crawling up her body to nuzzle her neck and jaw, before placing kisses on her cheeks, and answering simultaneously. “Good morning, Mama!”

Then Rin responded; Shippō was a sweetheart and always let his big sister speak first when they both needed or wanted to say something, unless what he had to say was genuinely more important. “Mokomoko-sama was very warm and cuddly last night, Mama, but not as cuddly as you.”

“Rin and I wanted to sleep next to Papa last night as thanks for making Mama feel better yesterday.”

Kagome smiled softly and kissed both of their foreheads before nuzzling their cheeks and down their necks, scenting them comfortably. “You two are way too adorable and sweet. Go say good morning to Papa now.”

They giggled and did just that, climbing over her to crawl onto their father, and Kagome rolled onto the opposite side from what she had woken up on, propping her head up in her palm as she watched the scene in front of her with a feeling of utter happiness and contentment. When mokomoko-sama slid up her body to curl around her chin, she buried her face into it for a moment, humming noiselessly and stroking her hand along its length, before lifting her face back up to watch her children love on their father, to see his soft, gentle smile that was only ever displayed during this time of privacy with his pack, his family.

Sesshōmaru had confided in her that when his father left him and his mother for Izayoi, he had sorely missed the pack, and part of the reason he had been so bitter towards Inuyasha was because he represented the loss of something integral and precious to inu yōkai. How deeply it had affected him had become even more clear once Kagome had a few _dreams_ after they mated. Needless to say, Kagome was beyond glad that she could give her mate something that he needed in his life, something that made him feel more complete and content. She was glad that she was different enough that somehow, acting abnormally for ningen felt more natural to her than keeping up with her ningen habits did.

Soon, his arms wrapped around her and pulled her up against her children, sandwiching the smaller bodies between the two of them, and Kagome laughed softly at the picture they made; Kagome and Sesshōmaru surrounding Rin, Shippō, and mokomoko-sama. The strip of incredible fluff was completely tangled up in their bodies, wrapping around all of them contently. Kagome adored mokomoko-sama, especially once she found out that it reacted to Sesshōmaru's mood; mokomoko-sama could display affection when Sesshōmaru wasn't able to.

Her mate's content growl changed to one of annoyance the moment a servant knocked on the door of their room, sliding it open after he gave off a frustrated, “What. Is. It?”

They were not supposed to be disturbed before breakfast – full stop; not unless it was a genuine emergency, but there were _none_ of the emotions clinging to her that would signify an emergency.

She was bowing to them as she spoke, her pretty green-black hair falling into her face and hiding it from view – that was generally their way of apologising for having to give unpleasant news or messages; which was much nicer than actually having the yōkai falling all over themselves to apologise like Jaken tended to do. “Sesshōmaru-sama, your brother and his pack have arrived at the shiro gates; what do you wish for us to do with them until the time you expected to see them?”

Kagome growled with frustration and irritation – stupid Inuyasha ruining things; _on purpose_ , too, it was far too early for it to be accidental timing – before Sesshōmaru ran a clawed hand through her hair, quieting her growls so he could answer. “Show them to their rooms in the western guest wing and give them a meal in the private dining room of that wing. Kagome and I will begin practise in the dojo after breakfast as usual; simply send them in once we have begun.”

The servant nodded, her long hair falling away from her face and showing Kagome that it was Chō who had been forced to give them unpleasant news (she would have Rin give her a bouquet later as an apology for her ire, Chō was incredibly sweet and big-hearted, they really ought to have had one of the older servants give them the news, but this was probably a test of her mettle and so, it had happened this way) as she straightened up and closed the door, padding down the hallway of their wing. Kagome was incredibly grateful that her friends were to be sequestered on the other side of the shiro; both guest wings were very far away from the family wing. They strongly appreciated their privacy. The nobles were in the eastern wing on this side of the shiro, private family wing was the west wing, and on the opposite side of the shiro lay the eastern and western guest wings.

“Come, precious; come, Rin, Shippō. Young ones will go get dressed, your mother and I will fetch you for grooming, and then breakfast, once we are ready as well.”

The children kissed each of them on the cheek before sliding off the large bed and running across the hallway to their bedrooms; the servants would help them dress appropriately. They _all_ had yōkai-made travel outfits now – self-repairing, self-cleaning (or rather, foreign substance-repelling, was more like it), incredibly sturdy and strong, and completely fireproof. But at the shiro they dressed with rank and appearance in mind, as frustrating as it was. Sure, the kimono were beautiful, stunning, and rich; but Kagome preferred simplicity to all that.

At least she was able to wear self-repairing short kimono (they were closer to the short yukata but were far too fancy to be considered yukata in this day and age, not to mention they had sleeves that went fully to the wrist and, because her travel outfit did, trailed downwards) that were cut off above her knees until after her daily morning sparring practise and fighting lessons with Sesshōmaru were complete – sure, she had to change into regular kimono after practise (or before lunch, depending on _where_ and _how_ they spent the time after practise) most of the time, but for a short amount of time each day, she was able to wear something free and non-restrictive in order to move and fight well.

Kagome knew that she could easily have been forced to continue her practise in regular kimono and hakama instead of the ones Sesshōmaru had specially made for her, so she was eternally grateful to her lover.

A mouth was on her ear, tongue tracing the edge as fangs grazed over her skin, and Kagome shivered, gasping softly with pleasure from the intimate gesture. “Nh, Maru...”

“Come, kitten, relax. Allow this Sesshōmaru to pleasure you before you dress, hmm?”

Kagome was _not_ going to deny that, and she pressed her body against her lover's as he deftly slid her yukata fully open and stroked over her body. She was whimpering with delight as he touched her, drove her to distraction, used his claws and fingers and mokomoko-sama to pleasure her in ways she had once thought inconceivable. It wasn't long before she reached her peak, panting and whining in contentment, and he laid her on the bed, kissing randomly over her body as she came down. “Mmm good girl my kitten is. Do not worry about reciprocation – it has been enough time that we can have the children brought to us after we spend time alone tonight.”

She really did not care about what he was saying, and she knew that continued arousal and desire was flowing into him from the bond – but Sesshōmaru had spent an entire three days after they mated secluded away from everyone, excepting when they had slept so badly that first night without their children that he made the decision to have the children brought to them when they were ready to sleep. He knew her body in and out – although he was continually learning even more – and the first thing he had learned, because she was so very yōkai even before the bonding, was how to reduce and lower her arousal and desire. So he went about doing that now, kissing the right places, nuzzling the right places, stroking the right places, and soon Kagome was calmer and more relaxed – like she would have been directly after her release had it not been several days since their last session.

And her aggravation had been gone ever since he began pleasuring her, which was really the basic point.

Sesshōmaru wrapped his arms around her and chastely kissed her, then kissed all over her cheeks, the bridge and tip of her nose, and her chin. “Good girl. Tonight, I promise – I'll even tease you all day, if you wish, and you may tease me as well, now that we finally have those hakama, tights, nagajuban, and hanjuban that suppress stronger scents of arousal and fertility, since neither of us actually wear so many layers as the rest of the court does.”

Oooh. Kagome _liked_ that idea. “Mmm yes please. Especially with mokomoko-sama.”

He knew what she meant by that – mokomoko-sama was very extendible, and very discreet, being able to flatten itself a surprising amount; it could tease her in her most private places in ways she adored, and since he _felt_ what it did, it ended up truly pleasuring the three of them.

He was digging around in her wardrobe to find whatever outfit he wanted to dress her up in; Kagome rather enjoyed being her mate's dress-up doll. They had shared this room from the start, because they slept as pack the entire trip to the shiro and he asked if she thought there was any point to her own room when they'd sleep as pack anyway.

Considering she'd already decided she would most definitely mate him before Inuyasha came by (it had taken only one serious make out session for her to realise that even if she _hadn't_ already been incredibly good friends with him and wholly in love with him, she just plain  couldn't hold out very long) the answer had been a definite no. She'd initiated their first sexual encounter only a week into coming into the shiro, and when he asked if she would mate him a week later she'd been utterly ecstatic.

“This Sesshōmaru promises to tease you sufficiently, kitten. It is a good thing that over our alliance you have learned composure and how to keep a good mask up when necessary, ne?”

She laughed and rolled her eyes, “That mask is meant to hide other things, but somehow this Kagome thinks you insisted on it being as complete as it is in hopes for such an outcome, hmm?”

“Oh, undoubtedly. The moment our son let this one know that you could return his interest – quite cleverly, might I add – at the alliance creation, he set about seducing you. Ah! There it is. Wear this kimono; koi for my koishi.”

Kagome giggled and moved in front of her mate, looking up at him and swiftly licking the corner of his jaw, “People would die of shock if they knew how utterly sweet you really are, Maru. And really? You loved me that far back?”

Then she grabbed the kimono from him, admiring it silently as she undressed. The base of the fabric was a soft, dark blue, with lily pads and water lilies scattered around the fabric that would cover her breasts and shoulders, and the fabric beginning several centimetres below her waist was decorated with a dozen beautiful, shimmering koi, their scales gorgeous patterns of orange, black, and white. There was an iridescent shimmer to the scales as the light hit them – silvery on the orange scales, but blueish on the black and white scales. It really was a stunning piece of work; and Kagome had a strong suspicion that Sesshōmaru had had it made specifically for today, because she had never been allowed to wear it – or even _see_ it, more tellingly – before.

“They would certainly die, although it would be by this Sesshōmaru's hand rather than shock. Pests and intruders are to be taken care of and those are the only ones worth consideration who would find out. Hmm. Not quite that deep; considering I was busy patrolling my lands, dealing with the court, and fathering my daughter. There was physical, emotional, and mental attraction – as well as deep lust – but not quite love for a couple moons into our alliance. It had most definitely been close before, though.”

The first comment made her giggle – frankly, she agreed with his opinion on that. _This_ Sess was for her alone. At his second comment, she smiled with happiness, but didn't respond – he knew she hadn't loved him back that far, so there wasn't much to say – and pulled on the black open hakama (unlike their travel-clothes, these hakama didn't tie closed around the ankle, they weren't sashinuki hakama) that were reserved specifically for sparring. Then she pulled on her cream-coloured hanjuban (a half-length version of the nagajuban that were the length of a regular kimono – basically a juban, or under-kimono, this was a hadajuban to protect the silk of her kimono from sweat stains, and the only juban she wore in the morning hours), and tied on her kimono after that; an intricately patterned peridot green obi, multicoloured patches of scales peppering the fine silk, being the finishing touch. Her obi for travelling and fighting were all _thin_ obi, rather than the much wider formal obi she had to wear during the rest of the day. Then she slid into her boots and tied her mate's obi for him, stepping back and allowing him to view her outfit.

Sesshōmaru nodded firmly as he looked her over, pulling her against him and scenting her before sliding her kimono aside so he could scrape his fangs against her mating mark, making her whimper gently. “Mine. You look stunning, precious. Let us go now, Kagome; we have a show to put on, after all.”

Kagome nodded, ever so slightly dazed, and walked out the door with him, barely noticing that their hands were firmly linked together, his fingers separating hers and rubbing against them as he held her smaller hand in his larger one. They let go once they reached their children's rooms, all four of them sitting on the floor of Rin's room after fetching Shippō, and going through their daily ritual of grooming each other thoroughly, taking their time to build trust and love between them. Once they were all finished they stood up and Sesshōmaru grabbed her hand again, squeezing it gently.

Their children grabbed their free hands – Rin holding onto Sesshōmaru and Shippō holding onto Kagome until he climbed up to perch on her shoulder – and the little ones chattered gaily as they made their way to the public dining room; far earlier than the rest of the court was generally about, those of whom tended to take a very light, and late, breakfast in their rooms. Their breakfast might be held in the formal dining area, but it was quiet and intimate, only two of the noble families being up and about this early in the morning; and both of those being accepting of Kagome and Rin by now.

They hadn't been _initially_ , but they were now.

Breakfast was a relaxing affair, and Kagome enjoyed the calm before the storm, but all too soon it was over, and they were standing up to head to their private dojo. Before Shippō and Rin could dash off to their lessons as usual, however, Kagome grabbed their hands, crouching down as she smiled at them. “Sweet pup, darling kit, how would you two like to watch Mama and Papa spar today, and meet with our friends when we're finished?”

Rin was the first one to speak up, “Oh please, Mama! Rin likes learning to fight, but Rin likes watching Mama and Papa fight more. One day Rin hopes to be as good as you are.”

Her son was nodding fervently in agreement at that, “Yeah, Mama, watching you and Papa fight is so awesome!”

She smiled at them and picked them up, one child on her right hip and one in her left arm as she kissed their foreheads and walked over to their father. “Well, let's get this started, love.”

He gave her a slight smirk and kissed her crescent marking, leading the way to the dojo and trusting her to follow him.

Today was going to be _incredibly_ interesting.

\- - -

Koi – Japanese carp

Koishi – beloved, love


	5. Chapter 5

Sesshōmaru had decided, much to Kagome's _extreme_ pleasure, that today would be an intensive lesson and a chase in addition to sparring – her friends were currently watching how her alpha taught her, the simplicity and ease with which he directed her body to move and flow. He used specialised kata that he had created specifically for her – kodachi might be her weapon of choice, but they were at a natural disadvantage to any sort of longer sword, so he created a comprehensive set of kata _based_ on traditional kata but more suited to her style and her weapon, one that was designed to give her an  advantage against larger swords.

Like she told him yesterday – she thoroughly appreciated the work he put into training her in a way that suited _her_.

“One, swing left, turn right, step back, four, twelve, front flip, twist and thirty two, four, seven, twenty five, swing right, jump forward, reverse, thirteen, twenty, twelve, roll back; and—drop.”

Kagome was panting heavily by the time he told her to drop, speeding through the combination of kata and movement at the same rate of his voice – in other words, inhumanly fast. Thankfully, with the permanent placement of a portion of her reiki into her body, she **was** inhumanly fast, and inhumanly strong. This was the tenth set he had run her through today, which meant next was sparring, oh she was so excited for it!

“Very good, you didn't even stumble this time when I made you twist. You have improved, Kagome.”

She grinned widely, blushed, and accepted the canteen of water he handed her, gratefully drinking it down before handing it back to him and levering herself up, grabbing her kodachi from the floor and assuming the beginning position that signalled her readiness to spar. It didn't take Kagome very long to recover from her training exercises. Besides; the exercise was good, useful, necessary – but sparring with Sess was the _fun_ part.

He unbent enough that even though her friends were in the room, his eyes were warm with excitement and amusement, _burning_ , and his mouth was turned up in a pleased smirk. Kagome answered it with a smirk of her own, tossing her kodachi in the air and catching it, turning the blade in her hand to the starting position once more – and then they ran at each other.

Kagome and Sesshōmaru were _incredibly_ gymnastic in their fighting – although that was much more because it suited _Kagome_ rather than because it was natural to her instructor. The whole match was filled with flips and turns, twists and rolls, jumping and leaping, even a one-handed handstand on Kagome's part. A good amount of the timesthey fought, Sess made her deal with a very or moderately still opponent and didn't use his mokomoko-sama to grab her or trip her up (thus causing the handstand to catch herself when she fell and righted herself – learning hand-to-hand combat for the past year and a month meant she could do things that people without that sort of training wouldn't be able to manage) because most yōkai and all ningen lacked them, but today he was showing her off to her absolute best.

Their blades frequently sparked with the force used behind them, and neither party held back – who cared if they cut their clothing (it would repair itself – or could be repaired or replaced), or cut their skin (they healed quickly), or gained bruises (again, they healed rapidly)? It was more important to win the match – not that Kagome _ever_ won. She could try, though, and did try every time.

Despite this all, Sesshōmaru was constantly talking to her – commenting on her form and her movement, congratulating her for well-executed combinations or moves, telling her ways in which certain moves currently being used could be blocked or enhanced. She was aware of most of the things he said, but her sensei firmly believed that the more often you heard or experienced something, the more deeply ingrained it became; Kagome happened to agree with him on that. So despite the repetition of information, she strongly appreciated his care.

The match ended with Kagome on her back, Sesshōmaru's boot on her stomach, and Sesshōmaru's blade under her chin. Kagome responded to the action in two ways – first tilting her head back in the typical show of submission, and then baring her neck to the _side_ submissively with a soft growl. She could feel her mate's surprise at her openness through the bond; as well as his pleasure – despite being subtle, that was a very clear sign of how things were. So she wasn't surprised at all when he growled back at her, approving of her actions, and removed Tenseiga from her throat, sheathing it almost immediately. She lifted her hand and he grabbed it, pulling her up, sheathing her blade, and nipping the tip of her nose with a light growl. Kagome growled back at him, grinning as he smirked and took a step forward, beginning a round of chase that was _also_ a part of her training.

The chase was _after_ both teaching exercises and sparring, because what she learned needed to be taught when she was more tired out, in order to be as effective of a lesson.

She held nothing back as she zigzagged around the large dojo, knowing he could catch her at any time – the point of this wasn't speed, it was _agility_ and  dodging. Hence, her needing to be more tired in order to learn well. His claws regularly ran along her kimono wherever she was open and weaker, the action causing her to focus more on the weakness in order to fix it. Of course, doing so opened up other parts to weakness, but that was pretty much the point – teaching her balance and how to focus on keeping her weaknesses in the forefront of her mind without putting so much attention on them that she gained even more weaknesses. Sesshōmaru made it even more difficult by using mokomoko-sama to trip, grab, or impede her whenever he felt she was getting too used to normal dodging.

Kagome wasn't very good at this yet, but she was definitely better than she had been a month ago.

Finally the chase ended when his arm snaked around her waist and he threw her across the dojo, forcing her to gain her balance, land on her feet, and try to keep from crashing into the wall. They always ended that way, so it was beyond expected and she would have been _completely_ _embarrassed_ if she couldn't manage to land on her feet.

Nobody could truthfully call Sesshōmaru an _easy_ or _kind_ sensei. But it was okay, because Kagome liked him—needed him—the way he was. Despite having regularly had a bruised back and sides (and arms, legs, hips, stomach, chest, hands, feet... Yōkai bone bokken _fucking_ _hurt_ , and Sess was **not** above playing dirty, because her opponents would  not play nice with her) during her first three weeks of learning.

When she was stable once more, she grinned cheekily and bowed low to her mate, “Thank you very much for your instruction, sensei. I look forward to receiving it tomorrow as well.”

He tilted his head towards her and pulled Tenseiga out from his obi, holding his hand out for her kodachi. No one was allowed to walk around the shiro armed unless they were guards. She pulled her blade and sheath from her own obi and handed them to him so he could put them up, before flicking her long hair behind her shoulders and stretching upwards with a groan. “Ugh, maybe one of these days I'll actually beat his absurdly talented ass. Unlikely, but one can always hope.”

Suddenly she was tackled by her heart-sister, and she laughed, hugging the older girl happily. “Sango! How have you been? Did you see what I've learned? I'm also learning how to use daggers, and katana, although I'm complete shit at them. Apparently I'm a natural with my kodachi, though – I absolutely love it. Sesshōmaru is a really tough sensei, which is just what I need.”

“Kagome, you are _insane_! How on earth did you get so fast and strong? Nobody should be able to keep up with Sesshōmaru-sama but you did, and you didn't even look like you were straining yourself!”

Miroku spoke up at that, his voice heavy with interest – and a good humour tingeing it that told Kagome that he _knew_ already and would help her get through this. Thank Kami for _he-who-knows-all_ , her beloved monk brother, “Yes, I would like to know that as well, Kagome-sama; you have definitely grown in power since we last saw you.”

Kagome shrugged and gracefully sank to the floor, crossing her legs in a fluid motion. Behind her, Sesshōmaru was settling down between their children, instructing them to be still and quiet until he or she said otherwise; although he was doing it so lowly that Kagome would be surprised if even Inuyasha could hear it. “Oh it's nothing big really; the monks here – they don't actually live _in_ the shiro, just in one of the villages outside of it, and only sometimes – taught me how to permanently enhance my body with my reiki. You know how to do that, Miroku, with your hōriki. It only took a small portion to bring me to a level where I can keep up with Sesshōmaru, and to enhance my senses as well. It's so wonderful – I feel like I _finally_ fit in my body now. For over a year and a half I've felt so out of place and unsettled in myself, but now I feel normal again – ironically enough, since I had to make myself _ab_ normal in order to achieve a measure of contentment with my form.”

Miroku tilted his head and came forward, sitting beside her. “Your power has grown immensely, Kagome-sama...”

She smiled wryly over at him and shook her head, “It's been like this for a long time now, I just... kept it subdued because I didn't know what to do with it. Sesshōmaru has been teaching me how to harness and use it in different ways, both my reiki and my miko-ki, the purification powers. Apparently it can be used in much the same way that yōki can, and I far outstrip all the miko and monks that used to reside at one of the villages here.”

“Used to?”

“Oh, Sesshōmaru mainly just called them there so they would be here for whenever the alliance agreement was effective – if I performed a direct service for him that wasn't repayment for aid of some sort, and that didn't fall under the purview of our alliance agreement—meaning helping with Rin didn't count as direct aid—he would bring me here for training. He wanted to make sure that whatever time I had to train was used to the fullest, so once the agreement was made he sought out the most powerful monks and miko that could be spared from their duties, brought them here, and pretty much just kept them busy until I was able to come. They all left last week since I outstrip them now and Sesshōmaru can continue my training because like I said earlier, my ki can be used just like his ki can.”

Her monk friend hummed softly and nodded, before asking another question. Kagome knew exactly what Miroku was doing – and was incredibly grateful for it. He was asking questions that allowed her to explain things in ways she was comfortable doing so – as well as allowing her to be relaxed enough to gloss over the truth in such a way that dishonesty and deception didn't colour her scent. Kagome knew that Miroku knew far more than he was letting on, and he was _well aware_ of that, but he so strongly respected her privacy and her wish to create her own future that he was more than willing to help her in any way he could. “So, what happened? Did they grow on your sixteenth birthday?”

Well that would be a convenient excuse if she wanted to use it, but no, she could be wholly honest about this. “When I saved priestess Hitomiko's soul from Naraku, she let me know... Well, it turned out that Magatsuhi sealed my powers when I was born, it wasn't even really a secret, mostly nobody paid attention to it though... So that whole year I had been using only a very small fraction of what I was actually capable of. Of course, I didn't know that until I saved the priestess, and even once I found out, it was so close to the end, so stressed and complicated.. I just didn't have the time or the ability to explore the depth of my actual ability... and then, like I said, I just... I didn't know what to do. Even Kikyō, who was in my first ever _dream_ , couldn't help me, because my ki is _different_. Reiryoku isn't _pink_ , after all, it is _blue_.

“Suddenly I felt out of place, like I didn't fit my body any more, and it was just so uncomfortable and confusing that I just kept it hid away... But Sesshōmaru found out and told me he could help me train, but we couldn't just... We couldn't just have me abandon you guys for who knew how long in order to learn, so we came to an acceptable agreement – he would give me pointers when our paths crossed, and if I gave him direct aid that wasn't repayment for prior services, I would come here for two or so months to learn how to harness my abilities and get started on weapons training. That was part of why we met up so often and so regularly; not just to discuss alliance terms and let the kids play, but to have him help teach me how to channel my miko-ki the yōkai way, which works a lot better than the ningen way. Then, if I ever came to the shiro, if Sesshōmaru thought I still needed help once my time here was up, he would travel with us at least while we are travelling through his lands clearing out the shards. He pretty much thought that no ally of his was going untrained, full stop.”

No need for the rest of them to know that their paths crossed pretty much _every day_ for most of the previous year. Miroku already knew – she was beyond aware by now that he always actually woke up around when she did, so he'd known about her initial training, and since, being a monk, he could sense yōki, it made sense that he'd known about her training with Sesshōmaru. She let them absorb this information, turning around and beckoning to her children softly, “Rin, Shippō, c'mere.”

They dashed forward and clambered into her lap, both of them chattering back and forth, exclaiming that “Mama has gotten so much stronger” and “Papa was so fast Rin could hardly see him!” and “Oh, yeah, and he did good at making sure Mama concentrated where she needs to.” and “Yeah! Mama is learning a lot from Papa!”

Kagome swore the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees as soon as those words escaped Rin's mouth, but she ignored it, kissing her daughter on her forehead, just on the crescent moon decorating it. They all had them, and if Inuyasha hadn't noticed yet, that was _his_ fault, _not_ Kagome's fault; or her responsibility, either. “Most definitely, Sesshōmaru is making me very strong so that I can keep myself safe when my friends can't protect me – that way I'll always be able to help protect my kit and my pup.”

Rin squealed softly and nuzzled under Kagome's chin, just as Shippō climbed on top of her head and nuzzled into her hair. “Rin-ne and I love you so much, Mama.”

“I love you both just as much. Now; stop climbing me like I'm your own personal monkey bars, you silly kitsune.”

“But Maaamaaa! I like it up here!”

“Shippō.”

The auburn haired kitsune immediately clambered off of Kagome's head, down onto her shoulder, and into her lap, clinging to her kimono but obediently being still. “Yes, Papa, this Shippō will obey Mama.”

“Hn.”

Kagome turned her head back and flashed him a grateful – and worried – smile. He tilted his head towards her and sent a comforting confidence to her through their mating bond. Right. Sesshō thought Kagome could do this, and her mate was _very_ good at judging what people could handle.

“Wench. We need to talk.”

“Go ahead, Inuyasha, I'm listening.”

He growled angrily, and Kagome just looked at him blandly, no longer even slightly intimidated by such noises from anyone, not even her mate – and _furious_ that he would _dare_ try to force her away from her _family_. “I am **not** leaving my kit, or my pup, or my _mate_ , or my friends, Inuyasha. Anything you feel you need to say to me gets said right here, right now, or it doesn't get said at all. You are not a child and you don't deserve to be coddled any more. I've done it far too much as it is.”

The hanyō took a step back and Kagome closed her eyes, willing her heart to slow down as she awaited the incoming outburst. “What the _fuck_ , bitch! Have you fucking forgotten who protected you all this time, who was always there to rescue you when you got kidnapped or lost, who stood by you and fought next to you? You _promised_ you would stay with me, wench, and even though you might have moved on, you could have at least had the fuckin' decency to wait until I had too before rubbing it in my fuckin' face!”

Shockingly enough, before Kagome could even _think_ to formulate an answer to his statement, Sango stood up, marched over to their friend, and slapped him as hard as she could. “Inuyasha, you had better stop being such a selfish, greedy, hypocritical _asshole_. Why the  hell should Kagome wait around for you to get over her? First off, the only reason you even started liking her at all to begin with was because she looked like Kikyō. Second, the moment that clay pot Kikyō came into existence, Kagome was barely even second in your heart. You certainly didn't _protect_ her. You just kept her alive, and barely, at that.

“You constantly abandoned her for a dead woman who had nothing but hatred for you and Kagome, who repeatedly tried to kill Kagome and yourself, who wanted to drag you to hell. You left Kagome unprotected the moment you saw those stupid soul stealers, and more than once actively decided that protecting a _dead shell_ was more important than protecting your supposed best friend. Not to mention, have you **n** **ever** had the sense to realise that you treat Kagome like _shit_? You never call her by her name – no, it's always wench, or bitch, or woman, or whatever derogatory term you come up with at the last minute.

“You always compare her to Kikyō, calling her useless and slow and stupid and weak, even though once she actually learned to use her bow, Kagome was every bit as proficient as Kikyō, if not even stronger, and this despite her powers being sealed. You don't actually give a fuck about her emotional well being unless you are forced to, and I'm honestly surprised she hasn't left your derogatory ass long ago. Because like I said, you don't _protect_ her, you just keep her from being physically hurt, at your own convenience. I'm surprised she still cares enough about you to _keep_ that promise of hers and to still be your friend; I certainly wouldn't if I were her. Kagome is more kind, big-hearted, and loyal than you deserve.

“I admit that I was unpleasantly surprised when I realised what was going on between Kagome and Sesshōmaru-sama, but it has been made _abundantly_ clear just now that he treasures and adores her with all his being – he might be a tough sensei, but he never spoke down to her, he praised her whenever she did something well, and was incredibly gentle in his corrections, rather than harsh, mean, or cruel. From what I have seen just in this short time, he treats her far better than you ever have, probably than you ever _could_ , and if you can't come to realise that, you might just permanently lose the best thing that ever happened to you in your sad life. I know that since you're hanyō you age differently than us ningen do, but seriously, grow up and wise up.”

Sango walked back to Miroku and Kagome when she finished her tirade, plopping down onto the ground with an annoyed huff, looking incredibly disgruntled until Rin detached herself from Kagome and walked over to the taijiya, placing a hand on her knee as she crouched down, looking up at the older female. “Thank you for defending Mama, Sango-ne-san. Sometimes she needs someone else to stand up for her because she is so afraid of hurting people that she doesn't want to stand up for herself. Mama was really scared about hurting Uncle Inuyasha because she loves Papa and would rather have Uncle Inuyasha as a brother. Because Uncle Inuyasha can't see that _nobody_ could _ever_ love Mama as much as Papa does.”

Some intangible tension in the air loosened at the second to last sentence, but first, Miroku obviously wanted Inuyasha to understand something he felt to be important, because he asked, “And why is that, Rin-chan?”

Her daughter smiled softly and tilted her head, “Because Mama is Papa's only ever real friend, of course. She showed Papa a kind of love that he never had in his life before her, and because of that, she will always be the most important thing to Papa, even more than Rin and Shippō-kun and Ah-Un and himself. If someone is more important to you than your own self, then nobody can ever love them as much as you can unless the same goes for them.”

That statement definitely shifted a few things around – apparently nobody (barring Miroku, of course, but that came with being he-who-knows-all) had ever thought that Sesshōmaru might not have been friendless by choice. It hadn't been choice, simply circumstance, seeing as the moment he was presented with someone who wanted to be his friend just because she did, who was intelligent enough to match with him, and was loyal as he was, he latched on fiercely.

When Inuyasha left the dojo, it was with quiet steps and a thoughtful look, rather than loudly and angrily. Sango smiled at the sweet child in front of her and ruffled her ponytail, taking in the orange kimono that had flowers bleached into the edges of the neckline, sleeves, and bottom. “You're welcome, by the way, Rin. I admit, part of that blow-up was because Inuyasha has been completely insufferable the entire time Kagome was gone.”

Kagome barked at that, falling back onto the floor of the dojo and giggling madly until her mate was perched above her, one hand on each side of head in a relaxed manner and his hair falling in curtains along the sides of her face, looking down into it wryly, “Koishi, has the stress gotten to you so much that you have become hysterical, or are you simply losing your mind?”

“C'mere, you wonderful _jerk_ , you.”

She firmly pulled him down until she was kissing him deeply, knowing that he would tolerate it from her despite the company, seeing as they would hopefully be travelling together relatively soon. Sesshōmaru growled possessively into the kiss, and by the time they broke apart, his golden eyes were molten pools of passion-infused lava, scorching her wherever they passed. Kagome knew that Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, and Kirara (who just congratulated her on engineering this) could see the depth of emotion in her mate's eyes – she had intended this to happen and he had acquiesced by allowing her to control the kiss despite the fact that he was alpha.

They both wanted the group to know that despite his outwardly cold demeanour, he genuinely loved their adopted sister with an intensity that only someone like him could ever manage to reach.

Predictably, Miroku was the first to recover from the shock of seeing the normally controlled daiyōkai freely expressing emotion towards someone, and he leered over at Kagome, “So, little sister, is it true what they say about inu?”

His leering didn't even come _close_ to making her blush – Kagome could take _a lot_ more than just that from her soul-brother and closest friend. After the final battle with Naraku, Miroku had begged her to teach him how to perform stitches, just in case. She had, and only half a year ago he had clucked and stitched a cut beneath her breast up – it hadn't been long or anything, but it'd been _deep_ and she couldn't heal it without everyone noticing so Miroku had kindly taken care of it for her. She, of course, had been completely shirtless because of _where_ the cut was. So this? Yeah, his words really couldn't come close to affecting her in such a way any more. “Mmm, depends on what it is they say, but...”

Kagome threaded her fingers into her stunning mate's hair and scraped her nails along his scalp until he could no longer hold back a _very_ pleased and relaxed growl, the noise echoing lightly in the dojo. Kagome (and without a doubt, Sesshōmaru as well) could feel that Inuyasha was still at the door to the dojo – not wanting to miss out on the conversation but not wanting to be in the room after being laid into so scathingly. “Fidelity, loyalty, trust, protection, possessiveness, dedication, determination, fearlessness, a love so all-encompassing that if it weren't so wonderful it would suffocate, and affection to the point that if anyone who knows his reputation ever saw it they might have a stroke.”

Kohaku had wandered over to them, Kirara at his side, and as he laid against the nekomata he tilted his head, “You seem much happier than I have seen you in a long time, Kagome-ne-san. I'm very glad for you. I can't help but notice, though... your body language is significantly different than what it used to be. Why is this?”

“The simplest answer to that is that my mate is inu and my kit is kitsune and my pup, whilst being ningen, is every single bit as inu as her father is. All the language and actions and behaviours came shockingly natural to me as I learned them – some over the past duration of the alliance, and some since I arrived here. Now I can't even imagine what my life would be like without them. I might be a ningen, but I am also an inu. Besides, everyone in camp has heard Sesshō state that I was far more yōkai, mentally, than I was ningen.”

Sango choked, “Y-you call the great daiyōkai of the acid claws, the Lord of the Western Lands, “Sesshō”, and you are still alive?”

“We have an agreement. I can call him Sess, Sesshō, and Maru. He can call me little one, kitten, and precious. Of course, in public we refrain from our pet names, but we'll be travelling with you eventually and so Sess and I don't consider this “public” – you guys are part of my family, even though I am part of a new family and pack.”

A soft chuckle fell delightfully upon her ears and she sighed happily – Kami but her lover had the most amazing laughs. “Not to mention that as this Sesshōmaru's mate, you have certain privileges that your lessers will never attain. This Sesshōmaru refuses to lose someone who holds his heart.”

The shock in the room was serenely interrupted by Shippō, “Bleeeh Mama and Papa are bein' all mushy again. Ane-san, let's go to our lessons now that the sparring is over.”

Rin bounded towards him and took his smaller hand in her own, looking down at him devotedly. Rin and Shippō completely _adored_ each other with all their hearts. “Of course, otōto-kun! Maybe sensei will allow us to draw again today after we finish our calligraphy lessons, that would be fun wouldn't it, Shippō-kun?”

“Yes, it would, Rin-ne!”

They called out simultaneously as they left the dojo through the door opposite the one that Inuyasha had left through, “See you at lunch time, Mama, Papa!”

Kagome waved at them before sitting up with a groan – she hadn't done her cool-down exercises, and while yōkai didn't need such a thing... Despite all the changes she had undergone she was _still_ a ningen, and that would **never** change, unfortunately. “Dammit, forgot my cool-downs. I'll be sore for the rest of the day.”

“Nonsense.”

Sesshōmaru pulled her back towards him, his legs crossed so that she was seated within them comfortably, and bent her forward, manoeuvring her body so that her arms were propped on her knees, her head was resting against her interlocked fingers, and her back was completely available to his strong, nimble fingers. The massage he began was divine, and she melted beneath his touch, breathing deep and even as he helped her body recover so that she wouldn't spend the rest of the day incredibly sore. Not to mention the fact that he teased her as he went, spending extra time on her more sensitive spots.

“Mnh, thanks so much, Sess...”

“You are very welcome, koishi.”

“Sesshōmaru-sama... I owe you my deepest and most sincere apologies.”

The female taijiya was bowing low to the Lord of the Western Lands and his Lady, and he raised an eyebrow before reaching forward, tucking his claw under her chin, and lifting her back up. “You are Kagome's family, and therefore you are family of this Sesshōmaru as well; there is no need for such formality – especially because this Sesshōmaru suspects that whatever you are apologising for has a good reason behind it.”

“When Inuyasha left and you informed us of the actual reason behind taking Kagome and Shippō to your shiro... I was anxious and worried for them. I've never approved of how Inuyasha treated Kagome, but at least he was sometimes willing to show her that he cared, even if they were brash and stupid ways of doing so. But you are so cold – or, rather, you have perfected such an uncaring mask – that I was worried about how Kagome could handle a relationship with very little affection...

“And now I come to find out that you not only have more respect for and trust in her than Inuyasha ever did, but that you are more than willing to be incredibly affectionate with her, even in front of people who are not direct pack-members, and that you take wonderful care for her health – both mental and physical. I don't think anybody could train Kagome to defend herself better than you can; I never would have imagined anyone who could master the ideal mixture of strictness and gentleness needed to train someone who has been constantly belittled ever since before she found out she had power to begin with.”

Sesshōmaru growled in a very agitated manner once Sango brought that last bit up, and ceased the massage to pull Kagome close and scent her, burying his face in the nape of her neck and taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. Sango looked questioningly at Kagome and she answered the confusion.

“He never stuck around enough to see the extent of how Inuyasha hurt me... and I might have sort of kept it from him later on so he didn't just go rip Inuyasha apart in his anger. Sesshō is scenting me right now, it calms him down to be able to know his mate is with him, not leaving, and calm. Of course, he can feel that I am calm through the bond but there are ways to manipulate that and so it isn't as reliable as scent; hell, scent isn't always reliable anyway, but it's much harder to disguise and twist, especially to someone with incredibly strong senses. I do much the same thing when I am upset, especially since I enhanced my senses, but I did it even before then. Canine gestures just feel more comfortable than most ningen ones do any more.”

“Do you think that having your powers unsealed made you... less ningen, somehow?”

“Hmm... I think that depends on how you see it. I suppose you could say that, but to me I simply feel like I am _more_ than ningen, now. Like I am finally whole and complete, but that in order to become whole and complete I had to change my body in ways that could accommodate the incredible amounts of energy flowing through me.”

Her violet eyed monk brother spoke up softly and seriously, at first reaching a hand out towards her, but thinking better of it at the last moment, seeing as that Sesshōmaru was still agitated and Miroku was definitely a male, “brother” or not. Little did he know that that didn't matter because he was her soul-brother and Sess was aware of this; his control over his instincts was impeccable and they were well-honed tools rather than blunt instruments. It wouldn't have set Sesshōmaru off. “Kagome-sama... Have you come to realise that this immense increase in power... Also means it is likely you will live far longer than regular ningen would?”

Kagome took in a deep breath, a somewhat pained expression leaking through her blue eyes. She'd been right, Miroku noticed first, and while part of her was upset that he mentioned it in front of the others... Well, he didn't know her worries about the subject since he hadn't even known _this_ until just now, “That's the only reason I accepted Sesshōmaru's suit, even though I was already very deeply in love with him. I don't like talking or thinking about it, but it has been confirmed in one of my _dreams_ that I will far outstrip my ningen companions. If I were to have a normal ningen lifespan I would have refused Sess' offer, because I don't wish to put anyone else through the pain of forever losing a loved one. I have a daiyōkai's lifespan – effective immortality. No illness can affect me, nor will I die of natural causes.”

No need to mention that she might not even be able to die at _all_ , because she didn't know for sure, but Miroku obviously gathered that as well. Sango, however, was much more visibly upset, and Kagome knew why – Sango had reacted very badly the one time Kagome brought up a long life to her.

“Oh no... Kagome-chan...”

The miko smiled sadly and opened her arms in invitation, leading Sango to barrel into her, holding her tight and apologising and swearing that she still loved her and Kagome was her beloved sister and that even though losing Sango would hurt, she could look after her children and keep the link strong, and at least she got to be with Sesshōmaru-sama for much longer than either of them had expected, right?

Kagome sniffled, tears running down her face, and Sesshōmaru gave off a low whine, one that was completely inaudible to the other ningen in the room, until she turned her face towards him, allowing him to lick away the tears streaming down her cheeks. Sango shook her head in awe. “Wow... It's seriously like you're two completely different people...”

“Sango, if I may explain... Certain kinds of yōkai are so strongly connected to their instincts that it is impossible, without severe training, to be able to regularly act in a manner that does not give away their instinctual reactions to things. However, even though in conservative courts it is nearly unacceptable, barring certain circumstances, to act on those instincts in public... With pack it is a whole different story. And even though _we_ are not direct pack – Kagome is pack, Mate, and alpha bitch. And we are her family, so even though we are not  direct pack, it is acceptable to display such things in front of us. Although... Technically...”

Sesshōmaru smirked and nipped Kagome's nose, “Hn. Kagome is alpha bitch of _your_ pack, and if this Sesshōmaru remembers correctly, the one actually in charge of the group was my koishi anyhow. By default you _are_ a part of this Sesshōmaru's extended-pack, simply for being a part of his mate's previous pack.”

The youngest member of the group spoke up softly. “Inuyasha-san...?”

“Has always been a part of this Sesshōmaru's pack, despite the fact that for a very long time there were no feelings other than distaste and hatred for the hanyō. Such feelings have generally abated, although had this Sesshōmaru realised exactly how the bastard was treating Kagome... I very well would have taken the asshole up on many of the fights he tried to start.”

A delicate hand scraped over his scalp and pulled none-to-gently on his soft hair. She could feel the rumble of a growl beginning in his chest, so she growled in an attention-demanding manner to prevent his anger from going any further – Inuyasha was still sitting outside the dojo, listening to them, and she didn't want her mate to grab him and start a fight that they were both no doubt itching to begin. Her head was still turned, so she could see his slender eyebrow raise, causing her to repeat her growl. He conceded and began to continue the massage he had left off, sliding her hair over her shoulder so that he could nuzzle and nip at the back of her neck, making her whimper softly.

Kagome loved the care her mate took with her, and enjoyed that he loved her enough to show it in front of her friends.

Strong hands moved down over her hips, pulling the right side of her kimono up so he could begin massaging her thigh, and she fell back against him with a content hum. “Maybe I should forget to do my cool-downs more often... Your hands are divine.”

She felt him smirk against her ear, mouthing it lightly, “Hn. You have said that before, koishi.”

A pretty flush spread across her face, but she didn't say anything – just in case Kohaku was unaware of the change in context, she didn't want to _make_ him aware, although a glance at her older “sister” and “brother” showed that they were both **fully** aware of what Sesshōmaru was hinting at. Miroku was smirking mirthfully and Sango was blushing furiously, as well as seeming in complete awe that Kagome was allowing her mate to get away with such a remark – but Kagome was no longer the blushing fifteen year old virgin ningen that she had been back when she first arrived in this era. Miroku might not be able to make her blush with his insinuations, but her mate certainly could – although, maybe not; that was a reminder of something she said previously in an intimate situation, not really an insinuation.

“So, sister mine – when are you planning to continue on our journey?”

“That... really depends on Inuyasha. I know you guys are my family, but you're also _his_ pack, and I refuse to take you away from him... So until he is willing to travel with me and the latest additions to my family... Until he is willing to travel with Sesshōmaru's pack.. I don't know. We plan on leaving the shiro at the second coming full moon, regardless, maybe earlier to visit his summer shiro, but then we'd leave _there_ at the next full moon – neither of us are the type to stay in one place for so infernally long, and the only reason we're staying so long _this_ time around is because he refuses to leave until I've made more progress with my daggers, katana, and being able to hunt. It really is absurd that both of my children can hunt and fish better than I can.”

“ _Ka-go-me_.”

She glanced over at him as his hands moved to her other thigh, huffing lightly and keeping her face composed – the earlier blush had been acceptable, but she couldn't let her face flush right now just because her mate was spending _oh so much_ extra time on all her erogenous zones; it would give too much away. “ _Now_ what'd I say?”

He only emphasised her name like that when he was scolding her. “Are you not from a place where things like food and supplies are quite easily gathered and found, with very little experience needed?”

“Well, yeah...”

“How, then, can you compare yourself to children who have been taught from very young ages how to fend for themselves? You yourself have told me that children and teenagers frequently pick things up more quickly than fully grown adults do – hence why we are teaching them to fight and hunt.”

She huffed and grumbled lightly under her breath, mentioning “stupid yōkai always being right” and other various things. He chuckled lightly against her neck and shook his head, his breath making her lose focus on anything for a few seconds before she came back with his words “Why is it that you have no issues losing against me when we fight, race, or play with our young ones, but when it comes to you being unreasonably degrading of yourself, you despise being corrected?”

“Uh...”

“Sesshōmaru-sama, you will be dealing with the ramifications of being called many unpleasant things and constant negative comparisons to a dead woman for a very long time, unfortunately. None of us approved of how Inuyasha treated Kagome-sama, but because she never fought back beyond the occasional yelling match, it wasn't our place to say anything about it. I fear we were of little help to our sister.”

“Miroku... You helped me more than you can ever know. Especially when you followed me that night and, unintentionally, helped me come to the realisation that I deserved someone who, from the very beginning, wanted me for being Kagome, rather than looking or acting like someone else. To be honest I was a little afraid that you would feel so guilty over that that you'd take Inuyasha's side more often, but you never did. You admitted that my musings were right and encouraged me to move on, then promised that you would still be a friend to both of us even if we ended up parting ways. I am happy to call you my brother.”

Deeply emotional eyes twinkled at her and he smiled, bowing to her from where he sat. “It is my pleasure, and I am proud that you consider me a part of your family, Kagome-sama.”

“Drop the -sama, monk – you _are_ family now.”

Kagome snickered at the dumbstruck look on Miroku's face, and Sango was giggling as she responded. “It looks like you've gained a daiyōkai brother-in-law, Miroku-san.”

“Sango, you are well aware that the same thing can be said for you, Kohaku-kun, and Kirara... Right?”

This time it was Miroku who was laughing – quite merrily – at the incredibly dumbfounded look upon Sango's face. Sesshōmaru shook his head lightly as he began working on her calves. She was a pile of _goo_ right now. “A monk, two taijiya, a nekomata, a kitsune kit, a ningen pup, and a miko mate who is more yōkai than ningen... this Sesshōmaru has a strange family and extended family, indeed.”

“No hanyō?”

“Hn... Inuyasha is a part of this Sesshōmaru's family, but until he acknowledges it, this Sesshōmaru will not unwillingly include him.”

“I'm actually surprised that you and Inuyasha were ever on bad terms considering that he is, by default, pack.”

Kagome spoke up, her voice soft and solemn. Sesshōmaru wouldn't mind her telling them because they were her family... and because Sesshōmaru had admitted to her that his half-brother needed to learn why Sesshōmaru resented him so much, eventually. Inuyasha hadn't moved from his position near the side door of the dojo, listening to their conversation and no doubt trying to decide how he ultimately wanted to react towards the changing situation. Kagome could only hope that somehow this had fixed his weird blind spot in regards to her person... Although something gave her a feeling that resulted in a strong doubt that it would. She could still hope, though.

“The most important thing for you to know is that inu yōkai mate for life. And that even when they disagree with their partners, they don't fuck around behind each other's backs, and they don't break apart unless they choose to undo the mating, which is difficult as hell and usually not worth the effort since generally even political matings are still friendly. The only time it is acceptable to take another _permanent_ partner is upon the death of your mate. Inuyasha latched onto me because I looked like Kikyō, whom he considered his mate, and that's why when she was brought back he always picked her over me.When Toga-san abandoned Sesshōmaru and Satori-sama to be with Izayoi... He broke up their family, their pack. He broke up their entire way of life, and abandoned every inu principle that he should have held dear.

“Sesshōmaru was deprived of a father figure, and even though Satori-sama and Toga-san were more of a political mating than a love mating, their relationship hadn't been a simple contract, it had been an actual _mating_ , even if not in the deepest way like what Sesshōmaru and I have done, and Satori-sama loved Toga-san as family. Pack is _everything_ to inu yōkai. Satori-sama was so betrayed when Toga-san abandoned them that she left to her own palace and suddenly Sesshōmaru had lost not only his father but his mother as well – his entire pack. Essentially permanently, as well, because Toga-san died shortly afterwards, and Sesshōmaru never saw Satori-sama again until the year I came to this era. He was only nine when she left and when Toga died.”

There was no need to let them know that Sesshōmaru strongly suspected that there was more to the situation than it had seemed, because he had nothing physical to really base those suspicions on, and it was over and done with. It still didn't excuse his father's actions – not just of this but during his childhood as well. Kagome resented that man and Sess' mother so damn much. There was also no need to let them know that mentally he had been somewhat more mature than that, in his late teens, especially because the stress of his situation _kept_ him in his teens for far longer than he should have been. He ought to be more mentally in his late thirties now rather than his mid- to late-twenties.

The whole room was silent at that, until Kohaku spoke up, wise beyond his years. “So Inuyasha-san was the concrete symbol of that loss of family and pack... and then when their father gifted Inuyasha-san with Tessaiga it was just more proof, in Sesshōmaru's eyes, that his father had never actually cared about him.”

Kagome nodded slowly, and she slid herself back to cuddle against her mate's chest, his arms easily looping around her body to pull her against him. “This Kagome has a very strong resentment towards Toga-san, even though without Inuyasha I would be dead a hundred times over, and even though I know that ideally, Tessaiga would have just stayed inside of Inuyasha his whole life, so it wasn't so much a gift as it was a preventative measure to keep his yōkai side from taking over.”

“Ironically enough, this Sesshōmaru's resentment has faded now; because without the past, the present would be impossible, and this Sesshōmaru's current pack and family is far superior to anything he might have ever had without the dishonourable actions of his father. Besides, this Sesshōmaru still very much respects and loves his father. He was not always or even often dishonourable.”

“Hn. I still think your father was an insensitive jerk and if I ever meet his ghost I'm gonna purify his _ass_.”

Sesshōmaru shook his head and licked her ear – but said nothing as they both felt the presence beyond the door standing up and walking down the corridor. It wasn't until she could no longer hear his footsteps that Kagome growled questioningly, turning towards him, worry plain in her eyes. He answered her gently, resting his cheek against her forehead after kissing the mark he had placed there. “Only time will tell, little one. He has much to think about.”

She sighed and closed her eyes, burying her face in his haori to scent him. “At least he stayed and listened, instead of immediately dashing off. He heard some important things.”

“Indeed. Come now precious, you should rest before lunch. The rest of you – the servants will take you back to your quarters, and if you wish to dine with us, just inform them and they will lead the way to the public dining area.”

Kagome smiled at them, waving as she stood with her mate and walked out the back of the dojo with him, squeaking when he picked her up as soon as the door was closed. “Sess! I can still walk.”

“Hn. This Sesshōmaru would rather keep his mate in his arms at this time. Deal with it.”

She huffed and pouted, but twined her arms around his neck, playing with his hair as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. “Love you, Sess. I'll be okay even if he doesn't come around, because I'll still have you, our kit and pup, and the rest of my family.”

The Lady of the West sighed and scratched her fingers against her mate's scalp before continuing on, “Honestly... One of the scariest thoughts about losing Inuyasha had been the thought that maybe they would pick him over me if it came down to it. I mean, he's like a brother to me, but...”

“He has not treated you well, and he probably never will until he matures some. This Sesshōmaru would not be displeased if Inuyasha decided to go off on his own until his mind is more settled, because otherwise the whelp will be getting pummelled whenever he mistreats you.”

“I _do_ have control over his subjugation beads, you know.”

“And yet you rarely, if ever, use them when the mistreatment is geared only towards yourself – you forget that I know you very well by now, koishi.”

She grumbled and settled into his body as he took her to their room, gently laying her on the bed. They undressed each other before laying together, marking their claims by way of scent, teasing each other, and talking softly as the late morning hours passed. They could have gone further, but it was more enjoyable to tease and toy, please and love without going all the way – it heightened things for _later_.

\- - -

Ane-san – big sister in a respectful tone (normally it is -chan instead of -san)

Otōto-kun – little brother.

For the future: imōto-chan is little sister and ani-san is big brother. Technically the -san should not be there but they use it to show that they _respect_ their siblings and so it is acceptable. Usually -chan is used instead of -san, to denote fondness. Additionally,  okā-san means mother, and otō-san means father. I highly doubt those will ever be used in this fic but one never knows.


	6. Chapter 6

“That's _very_ good, Shippō! See how long you can use your foxfire for, while keeping transformed like that.”

“Yes, Mama!”

Kagome smiled at her son – currently with black hair, golden eyes, rounded ears, ningen feet, tail-less, claw-less, and fang-less, as a disguise – as he practised his abilities. She'd had the opportunity to have a kitsune general of her mate's train her son, but they had decided together that it would wait until he was older. After all, according to Shippō she was teaching him very much like how his father had taught him, anyhow, and Sesshōmaru said that he was advanced far beyond his level already due to all the travelling and battles he had experienced, not to mention that he was probably daiyōkai potential to begin with, considering no kitsune his age could usually hold even a semblance of a humanoid form, always tending towards anthropomorphic. Sesshōmaru got a _Look_ in his eyes whenever the subject of Shippō's intentional ageing of himself came up, and Kagome had a feeling he knew how to reverse some of the effects of it, and was trying to decide if he should. Kagome hoped he did; Shippō deserved a _normal_ childhood – well, as normal as things could get around them.

A presence settled down next to her and she smiled, not looking away from her kit. “Good afternoon, Miroku. How has your day been? Did you have fun swindling Kenji-san for his insult to me?”

Her brother paused in getting settled in, before shaking his head. “It is _still_ unsettling how you consistently do that, Kagome, despite knowing how you manage it.”

“Hn. Scent really does tell so much; I don't know how I ever managed to get by with ningen senses – no offence meant.”

“None taken, sister; you were always meant for something more than simply normal. So, how much is still being kept from Inuyasha?”

Pft. As if he didn't know already. Still, she would humour him and confirm his subconscious (and conscious) knowledge.

Kagome relaxed against the tree she was under and hummed lightly. “Enough. I didn't lie so much as keep some things hidden – I actually _was_ training my abilities as soon as I found out they existed, but I was honest in that I had no clue what the hell I was doing. Shippō helped a lot by giving me ideas when Kikyō suggested I ask him. Sesshōmaru found out because I used my reiki to enhance my speed when I was heading towards his camp to negotiate the alliance – he insisted on helping me train every morning whenever he could. Mostly hand to hand combat, although he taught me how to regulate my ki a lot better than I had been doing up until that point. He taught me the _yōkai_ way – they channel their ki throughout every last iota of their body on a deeply intrinsic level that is almost totally subconscious. It speaks a lot that he was able to instruct me well enough for me to be able to manage it in just under a year.

“He's admitted since we came here that the underlying reason for doing so was just so he could spend more time with me, but at the time it fell under the excuse of, since I was helping protect his lands he would help me learn how to protect myself. Obviously I wasn't actually injured in the attack like he suggested or implied, whichever, although I did need to recover from it – I drained myself pretty bad. I felt so guilty for him lying for me, I didn't want him to... But Sess was sick of waiting. He had a legitimate opportunity to change our relationship in such a way that we could get used to each other without the interference of someone still in love with me, and he took it.”

Miroku nodded sagely, gazing at her seriously. “I do not blame him, Kagome. Even if he never knew the extent to which Inuyasha mistreated you, he had to know that you weren't being treasured like you ought to be.”

She smiled and flushed a bit as Shippō bounded back over to her, crawling into her lap and looking up at her, his green eyes shining happily. “I lasted a minute longer this time, Mama!”

“I know! I'm so proud of you, kit! Papa is teaching Rin how to sneak – how about you prove how good you are at finding and go fetch them for me?”

“Ooh! Yes please! I'll tickle-attack ane-san!”

Then he was running around the corner to dash off into the woods to find the rest of his family. “So, have you heard from him since he left the dojo? I can still feel his aura in the shiro, but he doesn't seem to be leaving the guest wing, even though it's been four days.”

“Inuyasha is being very... Introspective. Predictably, he interrogated me about our conversation the night you decided against pursuing a relationship with him any longer. The only thing he learned from me was how long ago it was – I think a part of him had been hoping that maybe this was just revenge; finding out how long ago it happened that you decided to find someone else essentially forced him to realise that it was far more than something so petty. Combined with the fact that when he realised last year that you weren't interested in romance with him, he came to _me_ to learn why and I had to inform him of the age difference...

“Well. He is less than pleased. Also, predictably, he had not actually realised you had officially _mated_ Sesshōmaru, with all that that entails, until I pointed it out. Again, Inuyasha is not the happiest person right now; although, thankfully, he is not taking it out on the others.”

Not “on us” but “on the others”... That was telling; and upsetting. Miroku deserved _better_ than Inuyasha verbally attacking him for helping her.

“That doesn't surprise me – Inuyasha is just a heartbroken teenager right now, trying to find any explanation except the one that hurts the most. Truth hurts. Especially realising that I didn't even fall out of love with him naturally like he'd originally thought – he was hurting me so badly that I _made_ myself stop loving him. That's gotta smart.”

Suddenly a small, quietly squealing body barrelled into her and climbed over her lap to hide itself between her and the tree, making her look back and raise an eyebrow in amusement. “Rin is running from the tickle monsters, Mama! Papa and Shippō ganged up on Rin!”

Kagome burst into laughter as Shippō ran into the garden, sniffing the air with an evil look in his eyes, his father walking sedately behind him. Kagome motioned to her son and Sesshōmaru raised an eyebrow, tilting his head forward and smirking at her before quickly grabbing the kitsune.

“Eeep! Oh no! No, Papa, don't let them get me!”

Kagome jumped up, taking Rin by the hand as Sesshōmaru sank to the ground, the two of them rushing the boy and all three of them tickling him until he was squealing gleefully. When he finally managed to escape their ministrations, he clawed his way up to his father's head and looked down at them reproachfully, a _very_ adorable pout gracing his face. Kagome and Rin burst into giggles, and even Sesshōmaru chuckled softly, shaking his head and reaching his hand up to rest on Shippō's head, claws raking through the soft auburn hair of his ponytail “If you cannot receive what you give to others, Shippō, then you should not be acting in such a way.”

Shippō understood that he was learning a lesson, and he nodded slowly, “Yes Papa. I shouldn't be doing anything that I'm not willing to have done to me... Well, to _people_. Or we wouldn't hunt, right? None of us want to be killed, gutted, and eaten.”

“Precisely.”

Her daughter pulled on the sleeve of her kimono and she looked down at the adorable girl, who waited until the yawn that had overtaken her was finished before speaking. “Nap time? With Papa, too?”

Kagome smiled and picked Rin up, standing easily as her mate also stood, nodding. “Of course, pup. How about we sleep in the nice shade?”

“Mhm, that sounds nice, Mama.”

“Miroku, would you like to join us?”

The monk tilted his head in slight confusion, but made an accepting noise (Miroku wasn't lazy like he acted he was, but he would _never_ deny a nap), watching them with interest as they settled down. They were in the family gardens – Miroku, Kohaku, Sango, and Kirara had all been granted permission to enter the sacred space, on account of them being _Kagome's_ family – so there were no worries about any of the court stumbling upon them and pitching a fit over how undignified the group was being.

Not that it mattered what they thought _anyway_ , when the Lord and Lady of the West could easily prove themselves to anyone who had problems with the way they acted. Kagome had _plans_ for the future, oh **yes**. One day the constant masks would be _gone_. Her mate tolerantly approved – constantly restraining his instincts had been _much_ easier before he had a pack to bring them to the forefront, and he now found doing so much more tiring than he'd ever thought he would. It wasn't as if his father had ever used his mask past a certain age (if  ever), either, so Sesshōmaru should be allowed to discard his own now that he was unmatched in power.

Sesshōmaru laid down first, mokomoko-sama stretching out a small distance in front of him, first perpendicular and then parallel downwards. Kagome followed, sliding between him and the soft fur pelt, growling contently as one of his arms wrapped around her body, pulling her close to him. Rin came next, curling up on mokomoko-sama near Kagome's stomach, and Shippō curled up above Rin's head. Sesshōmaru's other hand slid underneath Kagome's neck, and the connected part of mokomoko-sama became a pillow for the two of them. Miroku was _definitely_ intrigued at this, and at Kagome's beckoning gesture, hesitantly laid out next to the children, resting his head on his hands.

“This is how we sleep – together. If Sess and I want alone time, we arrange for it and they join us afterwards. It was a little weird at first but now... I can't sleep well if they aren't with me. He's pretty much the same way, despite being _thoroughly_ male.”

She giggled softly and nuzzled Shippō, running her fingers through Rin's hair and shivering when Sesshōmaru mouthed at the shell of her ear. “Hn. You are one to speak, mate. Who is it that-”

Kagome interrupted before he could finish, knowing damn well that he would be alluding to the fact that she had nearly begged for them to just tease each other all day the day that her other pack arrived, and then ended up going four rounds before she deigned to sleep. “...You complete that sentence and I will cease to join your private baths for a sennight's worth of times, starting _today_.”

Miroku looked utterly flabbergasted when Sesshōmaru laughed – a full laugh, rather than one of his chuckles or snickers – and this time _licked_ the shell of her ear. “What happened to that easily-intimidated onna that I spent half a year Courting without her knowledge?”

Kagome smirked and shook her head, “She never existed. Even when I was terrified of you you _still_ never intimidated me. I just grew to respect you too much to disobey you with any regularity.”

“Hn. True. It seems to this Sesshōmaru that you are intimidated by very little.”

“How do you think she managed to survive Inuyasha for so long? If Kagome was easily intimidated or cowed, she would never have managed it. By the way, Kagome... What do you intend to do about Kōga? He was... Unsettled, upon finding out that you were staying here.”

She shrugged lightly. “Nothing. I told him time and again that I wasn't his woman, and if he is too stupid to see the mark on my forehead or smell how intertwined mine and Sess' scents are, I'll just zap him. Not enough to seriously harm him but enough to make him listen to me. I doubt it'll come to that though – Sess and I are _covered_ in each other's scents, due to sleeping with each other whenever possible for so long. Kōga never would have pushed boundaries with Inuyasha if he had actually treated me like I was his intended instead of pushing me away but still trying to keep me around. Instinct told Kōga that Inuyasha hadn't _actually_ succeeded in claiming me for his own, so it was okay for Kōga to press his suit.”

Kagome grinned wryly at Miroku, “I've been learning yōkai behaviour from Shippō and Sesshōmaru since before the alliance, and I began learning in earnest once the alliance was solidified, so that I didn't accidentally insult him.”

Her friend and brother looked supremely impressed with that, “Very wise, Kagome-sa – er, Kagome.”

“I don't mind that much, Miroku, I know you've been calling me -sama for so long that it will take some time for you to fully get used to dropping the suffix. This is another quirk that differentiates yōkai from ningen. Once a declaration of family is made and accepted, all suffixes are dropped between those people; a suffix denotes _distance_. Children are exempt from this – and  titles like ane-san or ane-chan or whatnot are still acceptable between adults, but it's a bit of an insult to refer to someone with something as lacking in intimacy as -san or -sama is when they have called you a part of their family and you have accepted their pronouncement.”

He nodded lightly, looking thoughtful. “I will have to explain that to Sango and Kohaku-kun. Now, answer me this – are those bundles of energy actually asleep already, despite the conversation, or just resting?”

“Oh, kit and pup sleep better when there is conversation going on. We regularly trade off telling stories to them so they can fall asleep more easily – Rin used to sleep fine in the silence but I spoiled her. Sess says they'll grow out of it as they get older.”

“They will, koishi. When I was a pup I could not sleep in silence either; and you are wrong about Rin. Pup slept to the sound of Ah-Un's purrs and growls.”

“Oh. Okay, that actually makes a _lot_ of sense. I  had thought it somewhat strange that she adjusted so easily, children usually have some small difficulty changing their habits.”

When her mate shifted his attention, the difference in the air was _tangible_ , and Kagome knew that Miroku, he-who-knows-all, was in trouble – Sesshō _definitely_ wanted to know the secret behind his knowing all, and had since that nickname first came up and Kagome explained the reason for it. “So, tell me, monk. Why is it that you have been completely unsurprised as to everything happening around you?”

Miroku blinked and laughed nervously, “Ah... Trade secret?”

Sesshōmaru was unimpressed, made sure the look on his face showed exactly _how_ unimpressed he was extremely clearly, and then raised his eyebrow expectantly. Miroku sighed, speaking candidly, “I am afraid that part of it genuinely is a secret – let's just say I have an ability that I prefer not to advertise. However, it became very clear to me, and would have even without my ability, that at the final battle with Naraku, Kagome thoroughly and deeply captured your interest—as opposed to the curiosity from before the battle—when she accepted your offer to “heal” her wound – and then bore through it without making a sound.

“You couldn't keep your eyes off of her during the entire aftermath of the battle – unsurprising to me, since you've been curious about her just about as long as I've known you guys – and they were even more focused after that happened. It could have gone one of two ways – you accepting your interest and pursuing it, or you ignoring your interest. Before Rin came into your care, I believe your choice would just as likely have been the latter as it would have the former... However, you had Rin following you around, so it felt safe to assume that eventually you would follow through on your interest. Common sense, really, which, despite some of my actions, I actually have a far beyond normal amount that makes it quite easy to figure out things that I should not usually know if I happened to be a regular person.”

“And... You _approved_?”

“You must understand that three moons before this, Kagome had decided to give up on Inuyasha, and that I adore Kagome immensely. She is my closest friend, and will be for as long as I live, full stop. Because I love her deeply, I have always watched how she interacted with others, and how they interacted with her. During the entirety of our alliance against Naraku, even back when it was tentative and informal. you treated her respectfully and as you would treat an equal; despite the needling her into arguments and making her stand up for herself – which I highly approved of, by the way – which is far more than she would receive from the majority of men—at least ningen males—in this time. I wasn't worried about you treating her badly or not loving her; you clearly loved Rin in your way, and that child was absurdly happy, despite that you rarely showed her conventional affection around us. No one could get to know Kagome and _not_ love her in some way or another, unless they are an enemy or are jealous. It was inevitable.

“And, frankly, I always knew that Kagome would never settle for anything beyond extraordinary – and that if Kagome ever returned your feelings, they would not be aimed towards making you into someone you were not. She never tried to change Inuyasha, after all, despite how unsuitable he was for her. This was bound to affect you deeply and make some changes in your life despite her not wishing to – simply because complete acceptance of someone nearly **always** changes them.”

“It seems to this Sesshōmaru that Kagome pulls the extraordinary towards her – you are incredibly wise, and this Sesshōmaru is pleased that you are in his pack; because truly, you are closer than extended pack.”

Kagome giggled softly, grasping her brother's hand in her own and squeezing it lightly as she rubbed her cheek against mokomoko-sama. “Sess, your pack has more ningen than yōkai in it now! Well, not counting Ah-Un and Jaken.”

“Perhaps, but you cannot say that even one of the ningen that this Sesshōmaru associates himself with is _normal_. Even those in his extended pack are unusual.”

“Oh, that's definitely true. Who's ever heard of taijiya that regularly associate in a friendly manner with yōkai, yōkai who willingly bound themselves to taijiya, lecherous monks, or miko that largely prefer the company of yōkai to that of ningen?”

“Hey!”

She snickered softly and rolled her eyes, resting her hands on his, “Fine, Miroku. I admit, ever since that battle you have kept your hands to yourself quite honourably. Sango is _very_ convinced of your sincerity towards making a relationship work with her. She would have settled down with you immediately after the end of Naraku though... Why did you decide to continue after the shards with us?”

The violet-eyed monk hummed a bit, linking his fingers with her own comfortably. He would tell her later; right now was not the time to let her know that things had changed irrevocably between them – they were just friends now, and got along better than they had in moons because of it. “I wasn't about to leave you alone with Inuyasha with no one to back you up. Sango wasn't comfortable with the idea either, even though she still thought you would end up with him when everything was all said and done – she was worried that you might sink too far into yourself if you didn't have anyone to disagree with how he treated you.”

Then he smirked and glanced slyly over at her, “Besides, I was _not_ about to miss out on seeing the great Sesshōmaru-sama stealing you out from under Inuyasha's very nose, because I was most certain of that outcome happening and knew the entertainment would be exactly what I needed in my life. And it has been _highly_ entertaining thus far, thank you very kindly for the amusement.”

“Hn. This Sesshōmaru does not normally approve of thievery, but he is pleased with his acquisition.”

“Ugh, men! Seriously. I should have figured you two would get along; you are entirely too much alike, deep down. Also, Miroku, when you inform Sango and Kohaku about suffixes, make sure to put emphasis on the fact that since they are _my_ family, they are _Sesshōmaru's_ family as well, despite not being marked as pack. It'll be awkward at first, but all of you need to get used to calling him just Sesshōmaru.”

Sesshōmaru nuzzled her shoulder and growled softly, “It will not be as awkward as you believe, little one. You and the monk are the only ones in your previous pack who regularly addressed this Sesshōmaru by name. Sometimes the young taijiya did so but he usually did not speak much at all.”

“Oh, _please_. Just because you are too nervous, or awed, in Kohaku's case, to address someone by name doesn't mean that you are disrespectful to them in your mind. It will be weird and awkward and  hilarious. Especially if Miroku _conveniently_ forgets to inform them of the fact that you are **not** expecting them to address you perfectly to begin with.”

Miroku affected a faux-shocked face; he could act far better than that and was just goofing off for the fuck of it, as he very often did when just alone with Kagome and Shippō – it was great to see him so relaxed and comfortable around her mate. “Kagome! What on earth do you mean by “forget”? I would _never_...  Unless it proved humorous enough, in which case I _absolutely_ _ **will**_.”

Her mate was quiet through their giggles, until they finished and he spoke, “No wonder our son praises your mothering – you are thoroughly kitsune, Kagome. Somehow I do not think the rest of your family are aware of this.”

“Oh, _absolutely_ not. Miroku and Shippō  very willingly took credit for a _large_ number of the pranks I engineered.”

“Of course we did; you kept things merry when we were at our most depressed, and if Inuyasha had known that it was you behind them he would have forced you to stop. Also... Kagome-sa-nh; I thought you said your mate was _possessive_?”

She hummed and nodded, yawning slightly as the afternoon drowsiness began to break through her interest in conversing with her brother. “Hm? Oh, he is. _Very possessive_ , in absolutely delightful ways. Why?”

Miroku held up their intertwined hands with a raised eyebrow and she shrugged, “So? You are no threat; you are family. Besides, he isn't possessive like Inuyasha was. First off, Sess _trusts_ me, he doesn't treat me like an object to be owned. I might be _his_ , but he is _mine_ as well. It's... It's a different _kind_ of possession. I am some _one_ to be protected, treasured, loved, and spoiled beyond belief. In fact, Sesshōmaru even went so far as to be considerate of my dislike of being claimed, and promised that if I didn't want it, he would absent himself whenever his instincts were clamouring to claim me to the point he could no longer control them. When I found out about _how_ proper inu make a claim, and since I knew all the reasons behind it, though, I definitely wouldn't say no. It's nice being wanted so badly for myself.”

Not to mention it made her knees weak and made her dizzy with pleasure at the idea of being desired so much by her mate that he literally _could not_ stop himself from the shows of affection. That wasn't even taking into account how actually being claimed made her feel, emotionally and physically, either.

Sesshōmaru spoke up clearly once she finished her very slightly slurred, sleepy speech. “Kagome is mine to protect and to cherish, not to own. Inuyasha, and the ōkami, wished to own and control her, failing to understand that when you love someone, protecting their choices is more important than owning or controlling them.”

“Something else... When Inuyasha got to know me, I was weak and scared, lost, confused, and helpless. Even though I was _still_ weak and scared during my encounters with Sesshōmaru... I fought back. He tried to kill me, and failed. Inuyasha sees having to “protect” me as a burden and as necessary. Yōkai do **not** treat their mates in such a way because yōkai are powerful and perfectly capable of protecting and defending themselves against all threats – including unwanted suitors. Women have a _very_ different place in yōkai society than they do in ningen society.”

Kagome was interrupted by another yawn, and Sesshōmaru nudged her shoulder with a content rumble. “Sleep; you can converse more later. You too, monk, let us enjoy the afternoon by relaxing.”

She hummed and nodded, nuzzling into mokomoko-sama and closing her eyes, surrounded by the warmth of her mate, the afternoon sun, and the presence of the monk who had become her closest friend over the past couple of years.

\- - -

“Huh... Well, isn't this... _D_ _omestic_.”

“Speak quietly – if you wake up my mate or my children you will regret it.”

Sango immediately quieted her voice as she and Kohaku lowered themselves to the grass. “Ah, right, my apologies. So, uh... You do this often?”

“Hn. Whenever circumstances allow.”

The tone in his voice made the female taijiya giggle a bit, “Let me guess, you go out of your way to make it happen. You seem the type to work his ass off so that your free time is spent in relaxation instead of thinking about unpleasant duties.”

“An astute observation.”

Her brother spoke up after that, “How long have they been asleep?”

“Not long. You should join the monk – this Sesshōmaru understands that relaxation comes rarely for you. It should be taken advantage of when the opportunity presents itself.”

Not to mention the effect it would have on his mate.

The two of them thought for a bit, then looked at each other. Sango nodded and Kohaku smiled softly, calling out to their companion, “Kirara.”

The nekomata was in the garden within moments, fully sized and wrapping around Kohaku as he laid down next to Sango, who had her back against Miroku's back. Sesshōmaru hid a smile at the sight of his extended family gathered together like a proper pack. Kagome would be beyond pleased when she awoke. Content in the fact that everyone of importance was easily detectable, Sesshōmaru allowed himself to doze – he needed much less sleep than the rest of his pack, so he rarely slept with them, choosing instead to relax with them but keep guard over them. But today was a lazy, easy day, so he let himself sleep, knowing that he would wake far before the rest of them did.

\- - -

Kagome was woken up by her mate nudging her shoulder lightly with a soft, attention-demanding growl, and she grumbled under her breath before blearily opening her eyes – only to blink in amazement. There, across from her, was her family, all sleeping pressed against each other very much how she and her pack were laying together. Her free hand pressed back against her mouth, and her love licked her neck with a pleased noise, before mouthing her ear. “This Sesshōmaru thought you would be happy to see that.”

She was _beyond_ happy, and he could clearly feel it through the bond between them. Gently, she pried her children's hands from her kimono, disentangled her hand from Miroku's, and turned herself around, burying her face in Sesshōmaru's kimono and allowing happy tears to soak into the silk, deeply inhaling his scent. Unbeknownst to her, her action had woken the monk up, but he stayed silent as she and her mate shared an intimate moment, Sesshōmaru growling comfortingly to her when the tone of her tears and the emotion in their mating bond rapidly shifted. “Koishi?”

“I... I want to stay like this. It's not fair – we won't be able to do this once we're travelling again, although I prefer travelling to living at the shiro... and it would be so unfair to Inuyasha to have to watch the whole group excluding him sleeping like pack together... But even if it weren't for all that... They're eventually going to settle down and have a family together and live stable normal lives, move on... And then they'll die. It hurts _so much_ , Sess...”

Claws combed through soft black hair, scratching against her scalp gently as he kept up the rumbling in his chest, comforting her the only way he could. Unless...

Sesshōmaru tilted her face up and licked her tears from her skin. “There is a way to prevent that last, at the very least... A ritual that can tie ningen life to yōkai life. This Sesshōmaru was intending to see Bokusenō for more information about it before he found out that it was unnecessary with you. When Rin is older, she will be given the option. I will gladly have you keep your family, precious.”

She gasped and clung to him, hoping beyond hope, and scared to death. “But... What if they don't want...”

Miroku chose that moment to act, carefully sitting up, scooting away from Sango, and reaching a hand out towards them – Sesshōmaru, understanding well that sometimes the only one who could truly comfort someone in pain was the one at fault for the pain, no matter how accidental or purposeful that fault may be, carefully hefted her up and slid her into the monk's lap, before laying back down next to his children. “Little sister, what makes you think that we would _ever_ willingly leave you?”

Kagome sniffled, resting her head on the new shoulder, “The one time I brought up a long life to Sango, she reacted vehemently and negatively towards the idea. Sango wants nothing more than to settle down, have a family, and continue the tradition of slaying that she grew up with. Why do you think she kept apologising in the dojo? She _pities_ me and my long life.”

“And maybe if I shared those values, Sango and I would not have decided that the fact that our own relationship has gone nowhere despite the removal of my kazaana might mean we are not as suited for each other as we once thought. You might inevitably lose your heart-sister, Kagome-sama, but your brother will stay by your side for as long as you wish him to.”

She grew very quiet at that, and looked up at him with a mixture of hope and sadness. “When did this happen?”

“Shortly after you left to come here; I love Sango quite dearly, but we have very different values and wishes for our lives. And while Sango does indeed have feelings for me, it occurred to her that maybe she would be better off with someone more similar to her, rather than someone who was changing himself to be with her. It was, overall, a very easy decision for us. Needless to say, our friendship has been much more relaxed and comfortable since we moved on. I didn't say anything earlier because it was not the right time.”

Miroku ran a hand through her hair and down her back chastely. “I am not ready to settle down yet, I might not be for many, many years, and while I would have, for her... Well, it is a good thing, for you, that I had decided to travel with you if a choice had to be made. Despite her harsh words towards him, Sango decided that if the groups split, she, Kirara, and Kohaku would continue to travel with Inuyasha, unless he chose to travel alone.”

Her mate blinked slowly at this, responding to that comment with a small amount of surprise, “Would it not make more sense for the group to split differently, considering the altercation between her and Inuyasha in the dojo the day you arrived?”

“It might... Except, well, Inuyasha will no longer tolerate my presence because I was integral in Kagome's decision to cease her pursuit of him. Sango and I were well aware that this would be the outcome if he ever found out. Besides, she is more like him than I am, and if the person who woke him up to his own actions is still willing to travel with him, he will not feel as betrayed and alone.”

“I don't think I want to ask Sango, Sess. It would be cruel of me to make her say no when I already know how she feels about it. And Kohaku will likely stay with his sister.”

Kirara interrupted her thoughts with a soft comment to Kagome and Sesshōmaru that she didn't think he would stay very long, which Kagome accepted, but she still continued with her original train of thought. If it came to that it would. “But... Miroku? Would you stay with us?”

“Yes, little sister. If your mate will have me, I will join your pack properly and stay with you for as long as you need me.”

And just like that, Kagome was pleased again, glomping her new pack-mate before standing up and nodding. “I'll go have a room readied for you in our wing!”

She dashed off, leaving a blinking monk and highly amused daiyōkai behind her. “Thank you very much; this Sesshōmaru detests crying females.”

Miroku chuckled and shook his head lightly, “Any sane male does, regardless of age, species, or orientation. Is there anything that I should know about being in your pack, Sesshōmaru-sama?”

“Pick your fights well – do not constantly back down or you will soon find yourself with little choice in any matter, but do not fight every decision or we are less likely to listen to you when it is important. Baring your neck – either back or to the side – is usually a gesture of submission, and the only gesture it is integral for you to know. Kagome picked up inu body language very rapidly but a large part of that was through hard and relentless studying. You will learn over time through exposure, it is not necessary for you to learn swiftly. Affection is freely given in private and amongst pack of any kind, but due to the position this Sesshōmaru holds, only subtly, if ever, expressed in public. For now, at least, anyhow. Kagome is likely going to eventually change that, she has intimated to me that she is beginning to form _plans_ , and you know what happens when she plans. Also, servants do _not_ count as public. Would you rather be marked as pack sooner or later?”

When Kagome made _plans_ , they generally came to fruition nowadays. Ever since her abilities had become unsealed she was frighteningly powerful.

Miroku shrugged lightly, laying back on the ground and staring up at the blue sky without a care in the world. “I would much prefer to wait, because things need to become a bit more clear as the situation I am getting into, however right now I am willing to do whatever gets me the hell out of the guest wing and away from Inuyasha as soon as possible.”

Sesshōmaru raised an eyebrow and stared at his newest pack-mate's matter of fact, frustrated tone. “Is the hanyō being so insufferable then?”

“Actively antagonistic is more like it. I understand why; he is hurting and feeling guilty. Acting like an injured animal by lashing out at the nearest convenient target, which, since Kagome accidentally let it slip that I was involved in her decision and Sango, shockingly enough, had nothing to do with it... Means that I am the only available target. I bore up under it for a time, hoping that once it was out of his system he would wise up. Unfortunately that has not been the case.”

There was a rustling of fabric then, and Shippō sat up with a yawn, turning around with a frown. “Where's Mama?”

“Having a room prepared for our newest direct pack-mate.”

Seeing that Miroku was the only other person awake yet, the kitsune gasped and ran up to him, bouncing excitedly, “Really? You're staying with us? But what about-”

“Shippō.”

He winced lightly and sat down, “Yes, Papa. Shippō will let Miroku answer one question before asking another one.”

“Before I answer your questions, Shippō, would you be so kind as to answer one of mine?”

Auburn hair bobbed up and down as the kitsune nodded, “Yep!”

“How long have you been obeying Sesshōmaru like this? I recall you doing so when he came to fetch you for coming here, as well as in the dojo the first day, and he obviously expected such a response even the first time, so...”

“Since he started bringing Rin-ne to play. Papa might not have talked much, and he was _very_ scary, but he didn't treat this Shippō or Mama as if we were unwanted, so I had a lot of respect for him. Whenever he said something I listened because it was _important_ , and even when he started talking a lot more than he did in the beginning, that never changed. And then Mama told me that I would never have a better role model than Papa and that it was okay for me to think of him as a father figure, because if she ever ended up with anyone else, they wouldn't be able to raise me as well as he could. Back then, Mama couldn't see that Papa loved her, but Rin and I saw it.”

The monk placed his hand on Shippō's head and smiled down at him, “Thank you. Now to answer your questions – yes, really. I am to be travelling with you and moving into your wing. Sango and I decided that as much as we loved each other, we weren't very suited for each other. We are still good friends, but we both want different things from life.”

Rin woke up next, stretching and yawning before sitting up. “Shippō-kun?”

Her brother bounded over to her and grabbed her hand, tugging her over to Miroku. “Rin-ne, come meet our new pack-mate.”

“Mama's 'ni-san that knows everything?”

“Mhm! His name is Miroku, and he loves Mama very much. Don't worry, he'll love you just as much as he loves Mama.”

Brown eyes blinked slowly, and the young girl turned around to look at her father, who nodded lightly, before she turned back around to look up hopefully at her new family member. “Does this mean Rin has a new person to snuggle at night?”

“Er...”

Sesshōmaru had the grace to rescue Miroku from the risk of answering with a wrong response, “Yes, Rin, Miroku is welcome to join us at night, but you must give him time to become comfortable with it – he is not used to sleeping in a pack, he spent his whole life being fully ningen, after all.”

“Okay! Rin will see you later, Roku! Come on, Shippō-kun, let's go play!”

As soon as they left, a blinking and confused monk spoke up, “'Roku'? Isn't that the same child that quite happily chirped 'Sesshōmaru-sama' after you wherever you went?”

“Hn. As soon as that child became pack she began assigning nicknames to people. Kagome used to be “'Gome-ne-san' before she was 'Mama'. Besides...”

Sesshōmaru smirked as he sat up, his mokomoko-sama resuming its place over his shoulder comfortably while he moved to lean against the tree they were underneath, propping one knee up and stretching his arm out along it, flexing his claws lightly in the warming air. “Roku...“Good”. It suits you.”

Miroku choked, before bursting into helpless laughter at his amused and matter-of-fact tone, thoroughly waking up the remaining people in the garden. Sango looked at him as if he were rather insane, before the disgruntled female, upset at being so rudely awoken, kicked his back with a huff. “Ass. Shut up. I was enjoying my nap thank you very much. Why're you laughing, anyway?”

He quieted himself, unwilling to explain that he had just come to the realisation, combined with the earlier little jibe about thievery, that Sesshōmaru had a surprisingly _present_ and _deliberate_ sense of humour, and motioned in the direction that the children just left in. “Ah, Rin said something amusing. Sango, Kohaku, let's take a walk, Kagome wanted me to let you guys know some things...”

The silver-haired daiyōkai watched his newest pack-mate walk off with the taijiya siblings, before closing his eyes and listening to his children play together. This turn of events was... Acceptable. The monk would be far more tolerable as a brother than the hanyō was; in no small part because he was already fully matured, rather than still growing up.

Yes, this could work.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Part one. This chapter took a few, uh… unexpected turns. Surprised the hell out of me. Hopefully it doesn't drive anyone away but I can confirm that all hope is not lost for our beloved hōshi! More after the break, a short rant because certain people did not bend to my will. Grrr.

\- - -

A warm cloth rubbed over her shoulders, her thick black locks strewn over in front of them to keep them out of the way, and Kagome moaned softly, relaxing into the touch of her mate. Today had been draining and painful – both emotionally and physically. So right now all she wanted was to be with her pack and enjoy their company. The children would be joining them momentarily – they had been so stressed that they missed their afternoon nap, so Kagome had set them down for a short half-hour (half a candle mark, as she was becoming used to saying, even as she had infected her family with minutes and seconds) nap in order for them to be able to bathe before bed without passing out.

Miroku would be grabbing them and joining in their family ritual for the first time tonight. He had been offered to earlier, but decided to wait until things with Inuyasha were properly settled; and settled they were. _Most_ unpleasantly, much to the shock of everyone, even Sess, who had thought that the hanyō's lack of openly antagonistic behaviour towards Kagome meant that he was finally coming to his senses.

Kagome thought back to the morning as the cloth rubbed down her right arm, the yōkai soap that she had become utterly addicted to (all-natural, yōki-infused, and much nicer and more sumptuous than even her modern day soaps and shampoos had ever been – plus it didn't actually leave residue in the water permanently) creating a multitude of suds across her skin. Sometimes she used lightly scented ones, when she needed to change her scent for special occasions, but Sess preferred her natural scent, so she usually used this kind.

The big confrontation had happened this morning, and Inuyasha was no longer in the shiro – nor were Sango, Kohaku, or Kirara. Kohaku had seemed quite unhappy at that; the younger taijiya had grown attached to Sesshōmaru during his short time here, probably in part due to his memories of travelling with the daiyōkai before Naraku died, but he had lamented to Kagome that he'd _promised_ , even though he'd only done so because he was sure Inuyasha would wise up and they wouldn't be splitting up, so he couldn't go back on his word. She knew that feeling so well that she had sworn to seek him out whenever she could so that he could spar with her and Sess – and with their children. Kagome, Sesshōmaru, and Kohaku _all_ knew how to hold themselves back so they could fight with those weaker than themselves, after all. Her mate had been surprisingly accepting of this when she told him. Or maybe it shouldn't have been surprising; Sesshōmaru respected Kohaku and his mental strength, and already considered him pack rather than extended-pack – Sesshōmaru saw the boy as a very tolerable younger brother whom he could guide and shape into a stronger, even more resilient person.

The Lady of the West drifted as her other arm was washed, and her voluminous hair was pulled back. She followed her lover as he pushed her under the water, then came up, and the smell of her pack began to near the room. Damn – she would have to think about earlier _later_. They would convince the little ones to lay down with mokomoko-sama (Sesshōmaru _never_ got his “companion” – companion sounded far better than parasite like it actually was – yōkai wet; it would be an incredible pain to dry, firstly, even with yōki pushing the water away, and secondly, the furball-slash-tail despised the water) until after Kagome had her little meltdown.

Sure enough, as soon as indescribably gentle – and so dangerous that she should never allow them near her if she were smart – claws scraped over her forehead and through her hair, slicking the bubbling shampoo through the dark as night strands, the door to the private springs slid open. Despite all the times in the past that Kagome had chased the once-perverted (strike that; Miroku was still perverted – he was just immensely more respectful and chaste than he used to be) monk away from her bathing time, right now his presence was simply incredibly welcome. She _needed_ her big brother right now.

“Thank you for fetching them, ani-san. Come, join us. We don't bite, I promise. Well... Not unless it's more fun that way.”

Miroku blinked owlishly at that, he didn't seem to know how to react to _Kagome_ of all people making a joke like that, and Kagome giggled. It wasn't long though before he finally shrugged off his robes and stepped into the hot water, following behind the children who were taking turns washing and grooming each other. Kagome watched as a wash cloth was thrust into his hand by Sesshō and her mate instructed him to, “Wash her front while I finish her hair.”

Her brother was at a complete loss for words, but Sesshō's tone brooked no argument, and Kagome smiled tiredly at him. “Go ahead, I know you won't take advantage, and I'll be washing your hair and your back while Sess washes your front after this. Inu bathe each other and groom each other, and even though you are ningen, the pack is largely inu. Until there is another person for you to pair off with, the three of us will wash each other. And before you ask – washing someone's hair is _far_ more intimate than washing their body. Long hair is a sign of power amongst inu, and claws are _very_ sharp. So don't worry, this is acceptable.”

He finally conceded (the fact that he had hesitated at all spoke of his deep sense of honour), humming lightly as he began with her neck, and Kagome sighed to feel her hair being washed and her body being washed simultaneously. It was just what she needed after today. And they took their time as well, waiting to rinse her off until the children had finished, been checked over, and sent to the bed, both of them half asleep and eager to snuggle against the fur pelt that they loved so much, despite Shippō having to coax Rin that their Mama needed time alone with Papa and Roku. Then Kagome and Sesshōmaru worked on Miroku, Kagome running her fingers through the dark hair – it was growing longer now, reaching down to brush his shoulders – while Sesshōmaru washed her brother's (and _his_ brother's, she could tell that Miroku had slid into that place in Sess' heart effortlessly) chest. When they finished, Sesshōmaru pulled Miroku to the back of Kagome and slid in front of her, holding her against him.

Kagome finally, _finally_ , broke down. Gasping, painful sobs wracked through her body as her lover licked the tears away from her face and growled comfortingly and possessively to her, and with permission, Miroku rubbed her back and shoulders, humming softly into her ear. She lost herself in memories.

Inuyasha had finally ventured out of the guest wing this morning, and Kagome was hopeful that this meant he would be willing to talk things over with her – that maybe he had come to realise that she wasn't _trying_ to hurt him, but she deserved some happiness too. Her son deserved a father, and her daughter deserved a mother, and it was unfair for Kagome to have to put everything on hold for the decades it could and likely would take for him to move on. Not just from her but from Kikyō, whom he had always seen Kagome as a reflection of, no matter how poorly that reflection matched the original.

Instead he had attacked her and Sesshōmaru, almost pulling his destructive blade from its sheath before, in a moment of clarity, Kagome “sat” him, took the Tessaiga away, and forced him to talk. Never before had anything so vile, abusive, intentionally hurtful, and cruel been directed towards her – not even from an enemy. Inuyasha _hated_ her, and he was well on the way to transforming before she finally shoved Tessaiga back into his hand. And, holding back her tears admirably – she, Sesshōmaru, and Kohaku hadn't been alone in the dojo by any means, since they hadn't been in the private one, they had been watching a group of guards train – she told him that if he felt that way, he was no longer welcome in the shiro.

He had shot back that he was leaving for good, never wanted to see her again, and that she could complete the jewel without him, since they had long ago agreed that making the wish that caused it to disappear was more important than him becoming either full yōkai or ningen. Even though _he_ had been the one to decide that, he just told her that it proved she had never cared about him to begin with. That almost hurt as much as the vile lies he'd spouted about her and her possession of the shards before then. He knew _damn_ well that Kagome got no power from the shards, couldn't even use them in any way, and he had been saying that _just to hurt her_.Then he ran out of her life, as good as forever, taking Sango, Kohaku, and Kirara with him.

Kagome knew that if she had let Sango know exactly what he had done, the taijiya would refuse to go with him; but Kagome was very reluctant to let Inuyasha go off on his own, despite the hurt he had put her through. Sango had been surprised enough that Inuyasha had decided to leave – apparently he had confessed to her after Miroku left that he knew that she was right, and was just having a hard time coming to terms with it.

Kohaku, that sweet, wise boy, who had seen a lot more than his sister did, told Kagome that Inuyasha probably wanted to make her so mad at him that it would hurt her less when he was gone for several decades. That made sense, and Kagome was glad for a hopeful reason behind the horrible outburst of his... But it didn't keep the things he said to her from being _incredibly_ painful. It was also painful to see the longing way that Kohaku had looked back at the shiro as he left – he didn't wish to go with his sister on this journey, but he had little choice unless he wanted to abandon his only living relative.

Unbeknownst to her, Kohaku's words to her hadn't stopped the servants and guardsmen escorting Inuyasha out from being incredibly cold towards him, either – the nobles in court might for the most part despise her and her daughter for being ningen, but Kagome had easily wormed her way into the hearts of the servants and guards during her time here, as had Rin and Shippō. Most of the servants and guards had been here when Sesshōmaru was raised and helped raise him, unlike the nobles, with whom he had little contact until he took over the Lordship. So when they saw the people behind the changes Sesshōmaru had been going through, they had reacted beyond positively to them. They wanted their Lord happy, even if it meant that they had to accept ningen into their home permanently.

Soft murmurs and growls pulled her out of her sorrow, out of the memories, and after a few moments of just listening to the tones and letting comfort soak into her body – surrounded by warm skin, strong arms, wet hair, hot water – she finally began actually listening to what was being said.

“It is okay, imōto-chan. You aren't alone. You have us, and we will never abandon you. Sesshōmaru, Shippō, Rin, and I love you so much that we will do anything in our power to keep you happy and safe. _He_ doesn't matter now – your pack is what matters the most, Kagome. Your mate, kit, pup, and, if I may be so bold, brother, are all that matters for now.”

Her mate was growing in agreement as he spoke, his soft voice muffled by the steam, but audible even to her other ningen pack-mate. “Focus on your family, precious. Focus on those of us who cherish you, little one. We will soothe your pain and heartbreak, koishi. You are strong enough to pull through this, mine. Remember that you are loved beyond belief by so many people, one of them being myself.”

Sesshōmaru, the Ice Prince, the daiyōkai of the acid claws, who had never allowed anyone besides his father into his heart for over two hundred years, loved her with his entire being. That helped more than anyone could possibly know excepting Sesshōmaru himself and her beloved Miroku.

She began to relax with the words, recognising, even as she futilely fought them, that the murmurs were right. She had more important things to live for now. Hadn't she as much as admitted that to Sesshōmaru the first day her former pack arrived?Her deep blue eyes slid closed, and Sesshōmaru picked her up as he and Miroku climbed out of the hot springs – Miroku drying himself off before helping stabilise Kagome as Sesshōmaru dried her off and slipped a soft blue sleeping yukata onto her, then gently holding her exhausted formupright as Sesshōmaru dried himself and slid into a plain white yukata. Her mate picked her up and left the room as Miroku slid into a brown yukata, following behind them and sidling into their room behind them.

Kagome was asleep as soon as she was laid down, her children sensing her presence and curling into her as Miroku slid beside them, his head resting on a soft, silk pillow, and Sesshōmaru curled his body around his mate's. The monk realised he might be in trouble when those intense gold eyes pinned him with a demanding stare – but honestly, this was what he'd been waiting for, for _days_ now. Sesshōmaru had rightly been too distracted to notice before now, but this had been the perfect opportunity to _show_ him what the situation was and why Miroku had wanted to wait to be marked right from the start. “How long?”

He didn't have to say what he meant; Miroku knew exactly, and knew that honesty was absolutely integral right now if he was to keep his promise of staying by his sister's side. He loved Kagome more than anything in the world and would not risk abandoning her simply because it was painful to admit these things. “Most of the time I have known her. By the time the first sennight had passed it was just over. No one else, ever; not like _her_. Never anybody like _her_.”

A slender silver eyebrow raised and that gaze turned thoughtful and calculating. “Yet you never seriously pursued her, or she would have said something – and you likely would have succeeded. Why is that?”

Miroku shrugged and brushed a strand of hair out of Kagome's face with a tender look. “I have _always_ known that Kagome could not be as happy with me as she could be with someone else. She was untouchable to me – and because she was the only untouchable woman in my life, she is the most precious thing in existence to me. I will do anything to make her happy, to _see_ her happy. I know that eventually I will find someone more suitable for me and love that woman deeply... But no one will ever be able to take the place of Kagome in my heart, and whomever I end up with will have to accept that.”

At that moment, Sesshōmaru was incredibly glad for two things; one: that he had _superb_ control over his baser instincts when he wanted or needed to control them. Two: that he had known the monk for several years now, and ever since the alliance over a year ago, had been getting to know the man better than the rest of his compatriots. Of course, he realised at the moment that this was likely on purpose; no doubt Miroku had been able to see the attraction and wanted to make sure that the person he was most loyal to would be protected, and for Sesshōmaru himself to realise that Miroku was loyal to Kagome most of all.

It made the decision he had to make shockingly easy – and completely contrary to what an idiot like Inuyasha would likely do given the same situation. Sesshōmaru was completely capable of jealousy, but detested it and the lack of control it implied; especially when there was no _reason_ for it. Kagome would never fall in love with Miroku or it would have already happened despite that the monk had not pursued her, and the fact that she had repeatedly told others and himself that no one could compare to him meant that her standards were simply too high for anyone else to meet. It wasn't even a matter of vanity or false arrogance; Sesshōmaru was one-of-a-kind. And unless his father miraculously came back from the dead (Sesshōmaru would _not_ be surprised if that happened – the old man was sneaky and always had backup plans), nobody would ever be able to challenge him in any way whatsoever.

Considering Bakusaiga, he might still be superior to anyone even if his father came back, anyhow.

So he gave off a small, wry grin and nodded to the dark haired monk. “You are beyond honourable, Miroku, and show great strength. Not to mention your company is passing acceptable, as the time since our first alliance has shown. This Sesshōmaru will gladly accept you into his pack as his brother... And will keep your secret. Kagome will not know that your love for her is so much deeper than that of a sibling.”

Miroku was visibly shocked – and pleased – at the decision, but the shock wore off quicker than Sesshōmaru expected, so he sent the monk a _Look_ , and got an answer in return, “I knew that you would be more likely to accept me despite my feelings than anyone else would, because you have more control over your instincts and more honour than most people do. If I was honest and clear, there was a good chance you would allow me to continue travelling with you... and still mark me as pack. This is why I hadn't let you yet. I wasn't about to have you mark me as pack without knowing my feelings and there hadn't been a way to fully, completely show you before tonight.”

“Indeed. Yes, this Sesshōmaru is pleased to have such a being in his pack; ningen or not, you show more honour than anyone else this Sesshōmaru has ever known.”

He didn't give the violet-eyed man time to prepare before he called up his marking poison and reached forward, burning the crescent into the darker man's forehead – a mark that was soon replaced with a lavender crescent moon much the same as Sesshōmaru and the other three members of his pack had. When Miroku simply blinked blankly at him, Sesshōmaru smirked and nodded. “Hn. Kagome will be most pleased when she wakes up. Now, sleep.”

This in itself was a bit of a test – to see if Miroku would obey his alpha. He passed with “flying colours” as Kagome said at times, nodding before obediently closing his eyes and slowly but surely slipping into sleep. Sesshōmaru stayed up for most of the night, dozing off here and there but never fully slipping into sleep – he wanted to make sure that if Kagome had any of her _dreams_ or any of her regular nightmares tonight, he would waste no time in waking up to comfort her.

Despite being possibly the bravest person he had ever met, Kagome still had nightmares regularly – as to be expected from a somewhat powerless young woman going up against many, many beings of significantly more ability and strength, all of them trying to kill her. Or worse; her nightmare about Mukotsu was beyond disturbing. They weren't natural, either – Naraku was the cause of every one of her nightmares, even the ones about other people, which was somewhat strange. Finding out that almost none of her experiences had actually naturally given her nightmares was an... Eye-opening experience. Kagome had so much loyalty and trust in her at-the-time protector that, despite him regularly running off to help someone else, she still _knew_ she would be safe in the end, no matter how much the situations she got into frightened her.

The most impressive thing, however, in Sesshōmaru's eyes, was that that trust had now been placed in _him_ , even though she was beyond powerful enough to protect herself. It was very pleasant and inspiring.

There were no unpleasant or supernatural dreams this night, however, and when Kagome stretched and turned to him with a sweet smile, he kissed her with all the love he had for her.

That dazed look was most delightful upon her face.

\- - -

Kagome was a little bit confused at the most enthusiastic waking up she had been given – but she _definitely_ wasn't going to fight it, instead going in for another absolutely  wonderful kiss. The children stirred before too long, but until they did she and her mate showed each other without words just how much they adored each other. By the time Shippō was rubbing his eyes (very adorably), she was flushed and breathing a little heavily; not too badly though. Shippō obviously knew what had been going on since he sent her a wry little grin before he pounced on his sister and attacked her with his fingers and claws, tickling the little girl until she was overcome with giggles.

Their children almost _never_ shrieked; thankfully.

The noise still woke Miroku up, and he chuckled softly at the sight in front of him, leading her to look at him – and squeal quietly as she grabbed his hands and linked her fingers with his. “You finally let him mark you! It's about damn time, you idiot monk. I won't ask what made that happen – you have a right to your secrets – but I'm **very** glad that you're finally, officially pack. You are now my brother by blood; the poison enters our bloodstreams and merges with us to make us more resistant to toxins and such, as well as identifying us as pack and making us pseudo-yōkai. Any of us can use Fangs with our reiki powering the yōki attacks; or even you and I could use it with our miko-ki and hōriki. Sesshōmaru has promised me that once he is satisfied with my progress – meaning once I manage to cut his throat once, even just a small nick – he will have a fang made into a blade for me.”

Miroku was highly interested, the sparkle of curiosity in his eyes very blatant as he asked, “You know quite a bit about this, Kagome-s...nh. Did... _Sesshōmaru_ educate you? Also – I noticed this a while back; you call your reiryoku miko-ki.. Why is that?”

He was still having trouble with their names, but Kagome knew it wouldn't last too long – he was far better now than he had been three days ago when he was informed of the change that needed to occur. Also, she _had_ said in the dojo that her ki was not reiryoku, but it was understandable that the comment would be forgotten amongst the far more important information she was giving out at the time, namely him finding out about her immortality. “I'll answer the last question first – reiryoku is _blue_ , not pink; my purification energy is not, and has _never been_ reiryoku – that is why Kikyō in my _dreams_ couldn't teach me how to use it on a deeper level than I had already been taught. However, my purification energy  is what signifies me as some sort of miko. Besides, I like the sound of miko-ki better than reiryoku. Ki should be called _ki_ , after all. Hōriki and reiki are aptly named, reiryoku just doesn't fit in well.

“As for your first query... Yes... And no. Sesshōmaru informed me of the basics, but then had me read a book that his mother gave him on his last visit to her, right before he marked Rin as pack and his daughter because just deciding it formally wasn't enough for him – Satori-sama wanted to make sure that he knew exactly how it would affect Rin, and for Rin to know as well so that she could make an informed choice. Shippō and I were different to Rin in that he knew for sure we would not care what happened to make us pack so long as it happened – but Rin might not have wanted the abnormality it would bring her. I think Satori-sama was hoping for that – she dislikes ningen.

“Obviously that wasn't the case, but even so, after we arrived, the first thing Sesshō had Shippō and I do was read that book so that we knew what we had gotten into. You'll have to read it as well – the only reason that you haven't had to before you got marked is because my mate knew with absolute certainty that you wouldn't change your mind. If Kohaku is ever going to officially join our pack – yes, we all realise that Sango would never want to be officially adopted into it, even with her acceptance of yōkai that are not antagonistic – he will have to read the book beforehand, though. Because he's younger and less devoted to any of us. Sess was positive that you would have wanted to join even if Inuyasha hadn't been so bad towards you?”

Her unspoken question of was her mate right got answered with a nod and a verbal response, “Yes, I would have. I have always been more loyal to you than to Inuyasha, Kagome. And not just because you were the true leader of our group. As it stands now, my thanks for various things make me as loyal to your mate as I am to you, if only just.”

Kagome was struck deeply with the enormity of his statement, and her breath caught – until Sesshōmaru mouthed her ear and tugged on the edge a bit, the unexpected touch causing her breath to leave her and making her breathe more regularly. She stared at her brother in slight awe, eyes tearing up as he kissed the back of her hands. “Roku... I don't know what to say... T-thank you so much, aniki.”

She used his nickname – it really _did_ suit him well, and he actually seemed to like it a lot now – fondly, partly to diffuse the immense tension simmering around them; it was too much seriousness for this early in the morning. It worked, and when he smiled and responded to her his tone was still serious, but lighter than it had been before. “I love you, imōto-chan.”

He never used “imōto-chan” teasingly – calling her “sister” or “little sister” went for any kind of situation, but it was only with a still, quiet seriousness that he called her little sister in _such a way_. In deference to his usage, she similarly only used “aniki” with a similar sort of seriousness, calling him big brother or brother in different ways at other times.

Kagome had learned a _lot_ about Miroku in the past few days. She  really liked that. It was almost as if, before becoming pack, he held himself back from her, so nobody would get the wrong idea; but now that he was officially her brother (even before he had been marked, it was still **official** , because Sess had accepted him) it was okay to be affectionate and open himself up. The growth was absolutely wonderful. Sometimes, when she was little, Kagome had dreamt of having a doting older brother who completely adored her – even when she had been older she still wished for it to happen once in a while, and Miroku was acting just like she had imagined an older brother would.

The platonic but utterly caring attention he lavished upon her was just what she needed in her life—and once Kagome had realised that she felt so completely _selfish_ for having wanted – or needed – even _more_ affection than she already got from her mate and children... Until both of them had abruptly broken up her unnecessary guilt, corrected her mistaken belief that it was selfish to want familial love, and twisted her head back on straight. Roku had become _necessary_ to her well-being and there was **no** shame in that whatsoever.

Kagome was beginning to realise that Inuyasha had really twisted her head to the side in a lot of things, so that she was no longer thinking straight; and was mistakenly believing that she was.

Knowing that was filling her with a very low, burning resentment, and suddenly she was fiercely glad that Inuyasha had left, even how he did; he got out all the nasty vitriol he felt, and the next time she saw him she would be healed enough from his abuse to give him what for. Kagome had never _really_ fought back against him in a way that showed him how much he was hurting and abusing her. But somehow she knew with a quiet certainty that Inuyasha had _always_ been  intentionally damaging her with his words, even if the action was a subconscious one, and that was _unacceptable_.

Maybe next time she saw him, in a decade or two (or maybe even up to several decades), she would show him what it felt like to know how _she_ felt about him treating her thusly. What it felt like to know he had been purposely harming an innocent girl (for Kagome _had_ been a girl when she met him) and abusing her deplorably for so long. Especially once he realised she had never been Kikyō.

That brought her back to the present and she smiled at Miroku, “I love you too, aniki. Also, my mind wandered and suddenly I am absolutely, completely **furious** with Inuyasha. And incredibly glad he left; even glad with how he did it. Next time I see him I am going to completely lay into him. Unless something drastic changes things, he is going to get what I stopped saying for so long, and far, far more, shoved into his face.”

Miroku grinned his irrepressible grin and winked at her, squeezing her hands, He was clearly pleased at this turn of events. “He won't know what hit him, sister.”

Sesshōmaru responded to that with a low chuckle, as the children watched them curiously, “Agreed. The fool will be quite confused, even if he has learned his lesson – you have never truly spoken to him about his treatment of you, after all.”

Her daughter looked confused, but Shippō, despite not having been told the circumstances of Inuyasha's departure, was a wise little boy (kitsune always were wiser than their age, as Shippō had proved pretty much right from the moment of their acquaintance), and spoke quietly to her – loud enough they could hear, but soft enough for them to ignore if they so chose, “Uncle Inuyasha said some mean things to Mama before he left yesterday, because he is jealous and hurting. Mama is glad he got the mean things out instead of holding them in, and is promising herself that unless something big changes, she will tell him how much he has hurt her the next time she sees him more than just a passing by or meeting Kohaku.”

The blue eyed miko smiled at her son and her daughter, nodding and kissing each of them on their marks. “Exactly, thank you for explaining that, Shippō darling. Rin, love, the reason why Shippō didn't let you complain about going to bed before Mama did last night is because sometimes, when she hurts, Mama needs to be just around adults for a while – I don't want you to see me hurting because I know how much it would hurt _you_ , sweetling. Shippō has been through it before, so he knows how it works. I don't love you any less for it, it's just how adults are – and how children are; I'm sure sometimes you talk to Shippō about things you don't feel like telling Mama and Papa, right?”

At that, the girl's chocolate eyes widened and she nodded in agreement, her troubles melting away with the ease that only a child who knew she was loved beyond belief could manage, “Rin understands, Mama. Rin won't be upset when it happens again, promise!”

Rin was so intelligent and wise to know that it would for certain happen again in Kagome's life; no matter how much love and support she had and was surrounded by, bad things would always invade their situation, it was just the nature of their lives. Kagome smiled softly and nuzzled Rin's forehead before kissing it and sitting up, crossing her legs as she leaned against her mate's stomach. His lower arm rested itself in her lap, while the other one rested on his side before he began to run his fingers through her hair softly; an action that she repeated with her little ones. Rin began grooming Shippō's tail, and Sesshōmaru tilted his head slightly. “Roku, come help me.”

The nickname really _did_ suit the monk incredibly well. Especially in this new, open person that he was. The brunette looked a little shocked before he grinned lightly and moved across the bed, sitting beside Kagome and running his fingers tentatively through her hair. She hummed lightly and after a good amount of time directed Rin to take over grooming Shippō's hair, using her free hand to begin grooming Roku's hair, scratching her nails against his scalp and tugging ever so lightly as she ran them through his soft locks. Longer hair – and an actual ponytail, rather than just the rat-tail he had previously – really suited him much better than what he had worn while they fought Naraku.

Kagome completely missed the shock that flashed through his eyes momentarily, but she still understood when he cleared his throat lightly and said into the quiet room that was being slowly filled with a content growling, “I can understand why this is so intimate, now – washing I understood almost immediately, but grooming like this had been harder to understand, at first.”

Meaning he understood _now_ – not surprising, honestly, because Kagome had been utterly shell-shocked the first time she allowed Shippō to actually _groom_ her hair instead of just idly playing with it. It had happened out of curiosity, more than anything else, but something deep inside her had completely changed once that happened – not even just within her, either; Shippō, Sesshōmaru, and Rin had all treated her a little differently (in a  very pleasant way) after the grooming happened. Now her brother _understood_ something, deep within himself, that he hadn't been able to before. That was incredibly satisfying, and she smiled sweetly at him, tugging a lock of hair before continuing her ministrations.

Then she motioned him to turn around and he obeyed without another thought, pleasantly showing that he understood how the pack worked, his place in it, and how to obey his alphas. Miroku was turning out to be a true member of the pack despite his newness and this being his first day actually _being_ pack with them, instead of simply observing.

Kagome was done with Rin now, and Rin was done with Shippō, so they all split up – and shifted around. Shippō ran up to her shoulder as she turned around to face her brother's back, and Sesshōmaru slid behind her, Rin in his lap. They continued grooming her hair, as she and Shippō worked on Miroku's hair. They wouldn't always groom each other like this – every morning they did it differently, really – but this morning Kagome and Miroku were the main focus. At least, they were until they were finished; then they would attend to Sess, and he would have his turn with the little ones. No matter what, both Kagome and Sesshōmaru _always_ groomed the little ones every morning. It was intrinsic to building trust between them.

It wasn't too much longer before they were done, and Kagome grabbed Miroku's hand to lead him into position behind Sess. They sat down and began running their fingers through the long silver hair, her brother surprisingly not actually hesitating – that was definitely _very_ nice. Roku must not be  nearly as intimidated by her beloved Sesshō than she had feared he would be. It took them longer to finish Sesshōmaru's hair than it had to do their own, but that was to be expected – he had loads more than pretty much anyone else in existence. Well, maybe excepting his mother – Kagome had never met Satori-sama and thus didn't know how much hair the older woman had.

Probably a lot, considering the habits of Sesshō, Toga-san, and Inuyasha. Long hair seemed to be a family trait, for all that Inuyasha and Toga-san weren't related to the Lady Mother. Then again, considering the inu outlook towards hair, it made sense. Part of her hoped that one day she'd see Toga-san beyond his spirit, another part violently hoped he would stay dead, regardless of her mate's suspicions and personal wish to see his father again.

When they finished, everybody in the room was calm, relaxed, and content – even Miroku had joined in their vocalisations with a quiet humming. It didn't take much for them to all spread out on the bed and snuggle into one another, knowing that if they wanted to eat privately they could easily eat in the family dining room – or have food delivered _here –_ rather than using the public one; the only people who would notice them missing were the two families who ate an early breakfast with them, and no one in either family was so tactless as to question them about it in public – or, once they saw Miroku, to even question at all.

Both families were pack creatures (skunk and red panda) who would understand the importance of properly introducing the new member of the family to their grooming ritual... And know that the introduction would last a few days until they had some semblance of a new pattern worked out for grooming. Having an odd number of members undoubtedly made grooming more difficult, although the challenge was rather pleasant compared to some of the challenges they could have.

Kagome sighed and snuggled against her lover's back, nuzzling into his hair as her brother rested a hand on her hip – carefully not touching her scar fully, but lightly fingering the edges; respecting boundaries but silently showing her he didn't consider her negatively affected by it – and pressed his nose against the back of her neck. Affection was absolutely _wonderful_ and she **craved** it intensely and deeply. Growing up, Kagome remembered her parents being incredibly affectionate before her father died... and then he perished in a car accident and the affection trailed off into something more resembling proper Japanese conduct. That early experience with it had completely spoiled Kagome, though, and she was so utterly pleased that she had somehow fallen for someone who was not only well beyond affectionate, but who expected all of his direct family to be just as affectionate.

Certainly Inuyasha would have pitched a royal fit if Roku had been even the slightest bit affectionate with Kagome in such an intimate way, despite how utterly chaste and respectful he was being.

Sesshōmaru sensed her changing mood and dropped the children atop her and Miroku, each one snuggling into one of the adult's sides as her mate turned around and wrapped his hand behind her head, just above where Miroku was. She understood what he wanted and spoke her thoughts softly into the somewhat quiet room, “I'm so _lucky_ , Sesshō... When I was really little, Daddy and Mama were super affectionate with me, but when Daddy died, Mama stopped being very affectionate... And I got used to it, but I _hated_ it, I missed what I had before... And somehow I just lucked out and fell into **this** , which is a thousand times better than what I had as a child. I don't know how I got so lucky.”

She wasn't crying, but she was _close_ , out of sheer happiness for her current situation, and she could practically feel her lover rolling his eyes to her brother – _his_ brother, too – at her blatant emotionality. Kagome didn't mind though, especially when Roku chuckled and shook his head lightly, snuggling a little closer to her even as he held Shippō against his side.

Her family was _amazing_.

\- - -

**A/N:** Part two. **Two things** , first off, about the whole “imōto-chan”/”little sister” thing I said. Yes, they are speaking Japanese. It's the -chan that changes imōto/little sister from casual to serious for Miroku/Roku (so digging the new nickname, seriously, Rin-chan hit gold there), only that wasn't possible to really write and clarify because I'm not going to be writing imōto whenever he says little sister or sister. Aniki is another word for older brother.

**Second** : Omfg, I _wanted_ Inuyasha to mature and grow up a little and take a break with no hard feelings... he _refused_. Rrrrrr. This just goes to show you readers; characters _do not_ always obey their authors. Oh well, my muse has ideas so it isn't a loss, just a frustration. An  intense frustration, but an annoyance rather than a serious issue for the plot at this point since the plot is… well, not formed right now. Idfk where this story is going from here on out, this was about as far as I had planned things out, and the story refuses to stop rolling now so hold on for the ride!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Light sexual content after the _second_ in-chapter break; just a bit though, it stops very soon. Also, a  sika is a type of deer native to Japan. A serow is a type of goat-antelope native to Japan.

\- - -

Kagome jumped into the air with an excited giggle, grabbing onto the tree branch above her and pulling herself up into the dense canopy above her, her kit clinging to her hair from his seat on her prey as she dashed forward. They were done hunting – three of the rabbits and one of the hares in the forest were no longer in the land of the living, and Kagome had successfully captured the lone, young sika buck that the two of them had left the camp to track and kill.

It was now slung across her shoulders behind her neck, drained and gutted just as she had been taught. Her sensei would be proud – Shippō most certainly was. And similarly, Kagome was proud of her kit for the clean, easy deaths he had given the rabbits and hare that were dangling from her hips. He had already been sickeningly good at hunting, but Shippō was pretty much a professional by now. Her son would likely always surpass her in this field, but Kagome had gotten used to that fact by now. ( _Seriously_ , her children were disgustingly talented. Sometimes she thought it was unfair and then giggled at herself for being, effectively, jealous of her own children.)

The black haired woman slowed down as they neared their camp for the week, humming lightly. They had retrieved nine shards in the past month, so Sesshōmaru was putting them all down for a break this week and they were camped out in one of his “dens”; he had about a dozen caves all along one of his borders (the one without ōkami tribes taking up the caverns, a forest instead of a mountain range, or a seafront), all of them situated near onsen or with magically-created hot springs within them. They served as camp sites for his pack as they travelled – and even when they weren't near one of his dens, they were _never_ away from a spring or stream of some sort for more than two days; unlike Inuyasha, Sesshōmaru admired—read: _demanded_ —cleanliness.

Besides, bathing together was _important_ for pack.

Excited words fell from her lips as she finally touched down in the clearing in front of the cave, and she waved at the people waiting for them – Rin and Roku were grooming Ah-Un, Jaken was oiling the dragon's harness and saddle, and Sesshōmaru was just now walking out from inside the cave, an orange gleam behind him; good, the fire was going. Ah-Un was predictably the first of the group to congratulate her, always eager to praise her, and she shot back to them a deep thanks. “The hunt was a success! We have three rabbits, a hare, and a sika! Shippō.”

Her kit obeyed her and jumped down from the sika buck, untying the strong spider-silk wire that his kills were strung onto, padding in front of Kagome to present his kills to their alpha. “This Shippō dispatched his kills with silent swiftness and little blood, his prey not even having the chance to scream before their deaths.”

Thank goodness for _that_ , too, Kagome hated shrill rabbit screams. Sesshōmaru smiled at his son and laid a hand upon his head as Kagome and the rest of the camp watched the two of them, and gave the response one gave to a pup giving their first official kills – fish were well and good, but didn't count as _hunting_ , and before he had always just been practising when he hunted with Sesshō. “This Sesshōmaru is proud of your skill and gives you the choice of how your meat is prepared, as well as first serving.”

They had kept this little tidbit from their kit; and Kagome was glad of it now, as his eyes widened and he looked from her to his papa, eyes bright and excited, sparkling green shining in the afternoon light. “Oh! Oh, thank you so much, Papa! Thank you Mama!”

Sesshōmaru smiled and ruffled his kit's bangs, then directed the young boy to the cave so he could skin and prepare his rabbits and hare for cooking – they would be stewed; Shippō adored rabbit stew – before walking over to Kagome with a soft smile. “This one is proud of his mate for her first big kill. How will you be cooking it?”

Kagome was the person in camp who had the most experience cooking things various different ways, although Shippō and Rin were both gaining experience in that area as well – the men pretty much just shoved things over the fires and let them brown with no herbs or anything. “Mm, some of it will be braised in that big cast iron pot Mama had made for me, the rest will just be cooked normally over the fire. Split and spread on a spit.”

He nodded and took the buck from her so she could go see her brother and daughter – the blood (Blegh. Gross.) that had dripped down onto her clothes during their trip would already be disappearing from her clothes since they repelled foreign substances. Yōkai-made travel clothes were _amazing_. She smiled at her love and kissed him softly before walking over to Ah-Un, grabbing a brush and kissing her daughter and brother on the cheek before positioning herself between the heads and brushing on the insides. “How are you two doing? Rin, are you looking forward to your turn in a couple days?”

Shippō was young enough that his first official hunting trip that wasn't practise needed to have an adult that was not his teacher with him, but Rin was now old enough that her first trip would be alone – Shippō was only seven-ish, but Rin was finally around eleven now. Yōkai culture had rules for just about any situation, which was refreshing; it was more intelligent than ningen culture was in many ways. Rin nodded happily at her mama and smiled up at her excitedly, “Rin is very much looking forward to Rin's first official hunt alone, Mama! Rin is a little nervous about it, but the excitement is more than the nervousness is. Was Mama nervous?”

“Mhm, I sure was. Inuyasha never let me learn to hunt so the only experience I had was what Sess taught me. That was only a few months of experience, you know. And even though I know I don't have to learn how because Sesshō would always make sure I was fed, I still wanted to be able to provide for myself more than just fishing.”

After all, the two men in her family (that damned annoying _imp_ was _not_ a man, he was a stupid – albeit hilarious – little **bug** ) could both hunt and take care of their own food, even if they could only cook things one way, and her son and daughter could both hunt for themselves beyond simply fishing as well – it had been past time for Kagome to learn how to fend for herself beyond gathering herbs and vegetables in the wild and fishing.

Not that fishing was anything bad – Kagome adored fish, as did the rest of her family.

Suddenly, a huge amount of yōki that was noticeably similar to her mate's was rushing towards them, making Kagome sigh and put up her brush, motioning for Rin and Roku to continue their ministrations with a soft mutter, “Lady Mother incoming, stay calm and be quiet unless you are addressed.”

Sesshōmaru, of course, heard that, and growled lightly after saying something to Shippō, stalking over to her and pulling her along with him. She went on bemusedly, then let out a wry chuckle as he sat down against a tree and tugged her into his lap – apparently the word of the day was “piss Satori-sama off,” because Kagome knew damn well that her mother-in-law was _not_ fond of ningen, despite having raised Rin back from the dead – that only happened because Sesshōmaru had been so upset by his daughter's death and she couldn't stand seeing him so lacking composure. **Not** because Satori-sama actually cared about the girl. She would rather Rin had stayed dead.

Still... His claws running through her hair and his nose buried into her shoulder, the soft growls reverberating through her... It calmed her down quite a bit, and soon she wasn't reaching for anger to keep her from being nervous – likely this was a purposeful effect. Satori-sama was travelling rather fast to reach them; probably flying on her mokomoko-sama cloud. The first time Kagome had seen the cloud she thought it was pure yōki – but it turned out that it was yōki channelled by mokomoko-sama; after all, yōki wasn't something solid to be able to stand upon it. Just like reiki, miko-ki and hōriki (and, grudgingly, she admitted reiryoku into that category; yes, she was prejudiced, but anyone who mentioned it could _get over it_ , reiryoku was limited and couldn't even power ofuda, only sutra, at least hōriki could power both _and_ still purify yōkai with a touch when strong enough) weren't either. Without the physical arrows or blades to pierce her enemies, her energy just purified them to ash with no mess.

Kagome sighed and cuddled back into her lover and mate, her eyes closing and responding to his growl with one of her own – making for _quite_ the sweet scene when Satori-sama entered the clearing... _A_ _nd_ resulting in the Lady Mother being put off-kilter by such an intimate and openly affectionate picture.

She wasn't quiet for long though, and soon she spoke, resentment thick in the air – Kagome understood why Satori-sama disliked ningen, but she also knew that Sesshōmaru would take care of it one way or another. “Now you're playing with your food, Sesshōmaru? I thought you were better than that. First the little girl and now _adults_?”

Apparently, Sesshōmaru had expected this to happen exactly, because soon Shippō streaked into Kagome's lap and kissed her jaw in a manner that was both properly inu and properly kitsune, “Mama, I got the rabbits cut up and cleaned, will you be making the stew I love for dinner because I caught them?”

Kagome smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, kissing his forehead. “Of course, dearest. That's your reward for a successful first hunt. We have plenty of veggies, right?”

“Right! Shippō asked Papa to make _especially_ sure that Jaken got _tons_ of onions! Onions are _so_ yummy with meat!”

She chuckled lightly and nipped his nose playfully, “Yes, indeed they are – how about I add some to the sika I killed and will be braising later tonight? Now, go help your sister and uncle groom Ah-Un. They say that they would like you to climb up and scratch between their ears, please.”

Shippō nodded and sent a wink – unseen by Satori-sama, but proving to Kagome that this little encounter had been engineered when Sess spoke to Shippō before he left the cave – to Sesshōmaru, bowing before running off, “Yes Mama, see you in a little while, you too, Papa!”

Satori-sama was most disconcerted by this, especially when Sesshōmaru chuckled and shook his head, grumbling pleasantly to Kagome, “That son of ours has far too much energy, koishi.”

Kagome shook her head and licked the corner of his jaw, “Hmm. I bet you were _just_ as energetic when you were a pup – and even if it was more controlled, Shippō is kitsune, we all know better than to try and make a kitsune kit stay controlled. He would drive everybody insane within hours. I'm surprised he managed so well against Naraku when we were fighting him with Inuyasha – then again, my little boy is very mature for his age.”

Her mate nodded, rumbling low in his chest, “He protected his Mama very well back before her powers were unsealed and she worked at training her abilities so that could protect herself.”

“That he did.”

Finally, Sesshōmaru stopped ignoring his mother and looked up at her, his eyes full of unimpressed ire, “Mother. Is there a reason you are insulting my pack – and a reason why you dropped by with no warning? We cannot make food for you if we are unaware of your presence until the last moment, after all.”

“Consorting with even more filth, Sesshōmaru? I thought I raised you better than that.”

Considering how cold she raised him to be, nobody was particularly impressed with this. Kagome wasn't any fonder of Satori-sama than she was Toga-san, despite the more respectful form of address – that was only afforded to the woman because she hadn't visibly gone against her culture in the way Toga-san did. “I would not say the Shikon Miko is _filth_ , mother – indeed, she isn't even wholly ningen any more, seeing as she cannot die. Did you know, the first time I met her, I tried to kill her? Poured my most potent poison all over her body, completely covering it in a flood. Imagine my surprise when, less than a minute later, she was pulling herself up through the poison and shoving Tessaiga at my idiot half-brother. Kagome is _quite_ a remarkable woman.”

Satori-sama visibly blanched at that, before bowing her head and murmuring, “The Shikon Miko- My apologies – I did not realise – no, more like I didn't wish to believe... Hm.”

Nobody said anything, until Satori was up in the air again, “I will come visit when I can be more composed, Sesshōmaru! Have fun with your little pack while your mate does her duty.”

And then she left, leaving in her wake a _very_ visibly shocked Jaken and a blinking Sesshōmaru. Roku was the first to speak, chuckling into the clearing. “Apparently the Lady Mother was told something about Kagome – possibly about her relationship with  you, Sesshōmaru. In either case, she has been forced to see that her antagonising the ningen in your camp was antagonising an unbelievably powerful – and dangerous – ningen that could easily destroy her... _A_ _nd_ antagonising your true mate.”

“Hn. Thank you for explaining that, Roku.”

Her brother shook his head, “You would have figured it out soon, I just shortened the process. It is getting late, however – Kagome?”

She nodded and, reluctantly, stood up, taking her mate with her as she led the way into the cave. “Come, Shippō, help me and Papa make dinner.”

Shippō ran into the cave with an excited noise and began grabbing the vegetables so he and Sesshōmaru could cut them while she was making the base for the stew. It was rather easy to do – heat up the pot over the fire, fill it with some oil and butter. Coat the rabbit in rice flour, cook in the hot oil until brown on every side. Add the cut vegetables and cook some more, before pouring in some water and sake (she used plum sake this time). Then all she had to do was stir the mixture until the food was cooked, and add some thickener (some water and rice flour made into a paste – easy peasy!) to the liquid.

Kagome loved cooking, especially over a fire. At first it had been annoying to learn how to regulate heat that was uneven, but she eventually learned, and now found it easier than cooking over electric or gas heat. Much to the amusement of her mama – she nearly burnt stir fry the last time she was home, before vowing to never cook over electricity or gas again until she'd naturally come to it because of passing time. Her mama asked her then if she was going to stop visiting from the past soon and start in the future... But Kagome still needed things from the future to aid in her life _here_ until she had learned a few more things and planted a few more gardens with herbs for treatment, as well as a greenhouse in both her shiros and a few of the winter dens so that she always had fresh vegetables, so she decided not to yet.

Kagome thought her mama was pleased that she wasn't leaving the future behind just yet – to Mama, Kagome was still her little girl, 17 (18 at the beginning of next week! Not that she would celebrate it then, they were celebrating it tomorrow instead – hence asking her to get a _sika_ for her first official kill, instead of a boar or a serow) and mated (with  two pre-teen children) or not.

The food was almost finished now, so Kagome sighed and relaxed against her mate, snuggling into his chest and clinging to his haori. The journey they left on around three months ago had been trying and stressful simultaneously with being refreshing and relaxing – they all felt more comfortable travelling around and such; it was only the stupid shard-controlled yōkai attacking them for the Shikon that made things stressful. And annoying as all hell, too, seriously.

Things were awkward at first, getting used to having time alone while _Roku_ was around, but it was nothing bothersome to her any more – her shyness had faded away and he wasn't bothered by knowing when they were being intimate. Though, thankfully, because of barriers, nobody knew the _details_ – that would be a bit  too mortifying for Kagome to get over any time soon. Sesshōmaru, surprisingly enough, actually was the same – although for him it wasn't mortification, it was possessiveness. He didn't want to share _that_ side of her with _anyone else,_ _ **ever**_ , **no matter** _ **what**_.

Kagome could honestly say she felt the same way, and had been immensely jealous of his previous partners until he informed her of the difference between what is experienced between a mated pair and a non-mated pair – and until he informed her that he wouldn't be so damn good in bed without prior practise.

That pretty much shut up her jealousy and sent her into smugness because _she_ got the fruit of _their_ labours now. Sesshōmaru had been highly amused with that.

A mouth travelled over her ear and she hissed silently, tugging on the fabric beneath her hands to make him stop – they had to eat soon, after all, and they had had alone time last night, and... He was just getting _worse_ , and making her knees weak, and _damn_ him for infecting her, so Kagome growled and pulled away, grabbing his hand and tugging him to the entrance of the cave with her. “Roku, watch dinner.”

She missed the highly amused look on the monk's face, but _knew_ it was there anyhow, and huffed loudly before squeaking as Sesshōmaru picked her up and dashed into the trees, heading to the smaller cave they used for their tryst last night. Kagome had been a little worried about Roku at first, but he had adjusted well and obviously didn't resent her and her lover despite not having anyone for himself – then again, Kagome thought he was probably all talk and no action on _that_ front, and that he wanted to wait for the right person to come around, so it probably made sense.

When they arrived at the cave, Kagome squeaked again as she was tossed onto a pile of furs and attacked, laughing happily.

Love was so _fun_.

\- - -

Roku smiled at the woman he loved as she left with her mate, utterly pleased and happy with his life. He had thought, at first, that he was getting himself into _serious_ trouble. That it would take a while for him to get used to seeing her happy with someone else, and he would be resentful, as he had been when she was mooning over Inuyasha – but it hadn't happened like that  at all. In fact, Roku came to realise that while he very intensely and deeply loved Kagome... It wasn't completely _romantic_. She was his most precious person, yes, but in so many more ways than just romantic, and he truly did love her as a sister now; so it was easy for him to see her being happy and simply be happy for her in turn. It was a complete relief, that he hadn't had to go through moons or years of upset while getting used to her being so obviously _with_ someone in all the ways that mattered. Possibly it was the fact that he truly only wanted her happiness; with Inuyasha she had **never** really been happy, which caused the aforementioned resentment and a deep hurt.

He was so utterly grateful to Sesshōmaru for many things, not the least of which was keeping Kagome blissful and accepting him into his family – Roku truly did have a brother, now.

Having a complete family was _strange_ in the most wonderful way. His niece and nephew lightened his heart, and all the trauma and shock he had been going through – travelling with people who only remind you of what you missed out on in life and what you don't think you deserve is not conducive to healing – well, that had receded a great amount. Living in the shiros for one and a half moon cycles greatly helped soothe his soul, helped him relax, and greatly reduced the number of nightmares he had been having.

The latter item on that list was solely because of his family – they projected such a _strong_ aura of contentment, happiness, and of rightness with the world that despite the fact that everyone except Sesshōmaru had nightmares, they were highly infrequent, no more than once or twice a sennight per person; considering all they had gone through, that was amazing. He thought that Sesshōmaru also did something with his yōki to dampen the effect they had and the frequency – certainly Kagome did so with her reiki. Having such an immensely strong, protective aura wrapped around you makes you much less fearful when you fall asleep. Miroku remembered back when they were with the Inutachi that Shippō and Kagome woke up damn near every night with nightmares; well, not always together, but at the very least either one or the other did. He was _always_ awake when Kagome left for her morning training with her son.

That was something Inuyasha had hated as well. Sure he had been moderately fond of the little kitsune at times, but mostly he saw Shippō as a nuisance, annoying, and a combatant for Kagome's affections. More signs that Inuyasha had been too immature for the kind of relationship Kagome needed – to Shippō she was his _mama_ and to Kagome he was her _son_ and nothing in the world could change that. Sesshōmaru had accepted that right from the beginning, and gone so far as to allow Kagome to become a mother figure to Rin – _well_ before he had feelings for her. That spoke  verydeeply about how much he trusted and respected Kagome.

Another thing that Sesshōmaru did for their beloved Kagome: he treated her like she was the most important thing in the world – to the point that he had talked a theory over with them, and tomorrow, at Kagome's birthday celebration, would join with her and Roku himself (Rin had corrupted him and everyone around him, seriously – even _Kohaku_ called him Roku-ni now) to wrap a strong barrier around the Shikon. No longer would yōkai seek them out to find the jewel. Would it slow their progress? Yes. Would they be incredibly, immensely safer than before? Obviously. Did Sesshōmaru complain, like his brother would have, about the extra time needed now? Not even once.

Despite that, the yōkai was _still_ visibly Sesshōmaru. Taciturn, cold, vicious, an unrepentant killer ( _not_ to be confused with a murderer – there was an enormous difference there, although, admittedly, those first two incidents with Kagome would have been considered murder amongst ningen; to yōkai, however, he was simply ridding himself of a pest), honourable, strong, and selective with who he opened up to. Having a pack had _definitely_ affected him though. He was much softer and kinder now (not to everyone but to _them_ and a few select others, especially servants and guards at the shiros) than he used to be. It was a good change. Inuyasha needed to change that way, honestly.

Roku was _glad_ that Inuyasha had gone, and that when they weren't off chasing shards, they sought the hanyō out (not that the idiot was aware of this) to spend time with Kohaku. The other inu mostly ignored the young man, and he was incredibly lonely, so spending time with their own group was a balm. They all loved him dearly like family and spent at least a few mornings a sennight with him, unless a shard was especially far away – Sesshōmaru's mokomoko-sama could travel fast and hold many, and Ah-Un were fairly fast, themselves.

Every damn person in their group, even _Jaken_ , wanted to spirit Kohaku away and take him into their pack, but he said that he needed to find a way to talk to Sango about it so they could go about letting him leave without Inuyasha feeling abandoned. Sango apparently wasn't a problem because she could see how unhappy Kohaku was. Then again, apparently the hanyō wasn't really doing much other than aimlessly travelling and feeling sorry for himself. Sango was going to suggest they try to rebuild the taijiya village and then seek out the clan in the mountains and ask for some of them to populate the newly refurbished village. That would let them spread out and get new blood into their lines, as well as help protect people _t_ _here_ from rogue yōkai.

He hoped it worked out for them, but was a bit sceptical of the plan – although it would definitely aid them greatly if Inuyasha became the “guardian” of the village, as it were – Inuyasha would get plenty of exercise and aggression out killing rogue yōkai and they would have a supernatural defender of their village in case something like Naraku ever happened again. It would give them an extra line of defence.

Miroku checked the stew again, stirring it, and smiled with a nod. It was done! Grabbing the strange looking and feeling “silicon” pot-holders that Kagome had brought back from her time, he moved the large pot from the cooking fire to the smaller fire—well coals, really, not a proper fire—meant for keeping the food warm once it was finished, but not warm enough to overcook it. Although really, it was hard to overcook a stew. Hopefully, Roku could convince Kagome to use some of the sika to make one of her “curries”; he loved the spicy dish with so many varieties of flavours and levels of heat, and she had managed to find a large amount of the herbs necessary to make a reasonable approximation of her second-favourite dish without having to go find more from the future.

It might be Kagome's _second_ -favourite food, but it was Roku's _absolute_ favourite food.

They should be back soon, he thought, as he looked up at the darkening sky. The trip to the shiros had been in mid spring into early summer, and now it was early autumn, the leaves were going to be falling soon and the days were getting shorter. Their second full year passing the defeat of Naraku was coming up. With another thought, Roku decided that it would be best to get the children fed – “soon” could be very versatile; especially with a particularly amorous daiyōkai in the equation. Sesshōmaru _had_ had the look of someone who was planning to completely exhaust his partner once he was in a proper area when he left. So Roku called them over, grabbed their bowls and spoons, and ladled the stew into each bowl, before serving himself.

Sure enough, it was still quite a while before they arrived back in the cave, a very _smug_ and contented daiyōkai carrying his armour (he must have left it in the cave there earlier; it was always laid aside when they had a secure camping site, and usually hidden, but he'd probably decided that his den was secure enough to bring it inside the caves) with his mokomoko-sama while his arms held a flushed, exhausted, and similarly content – as well as blissfully happy – Kagome. _This_ was what she deserved in her life. Unparalleled devotion and happiness.

\- - -

“Mnh, Maru... we should.. get.. back.. soon.... h-ah!”

Her lover looked up from between her breasts and hummed lightly, before reluctantly growling in agreement. That didn't stop him from lavishing her body with more attention – his claws scratched over her skin in places he should _leave alone_ if he wasn't going to bed her again – and shoving all his love and devotion and lust through their bond, however. Not that Kagome minded – really, if she wasn't hungry she would suggest they stay here and have _another_ three rounds before they went back to sleep with their pack – her mate had _infected_ her, and now she was just as much of a pervert as the lustful inu was.

He caught that thought – sometimes thoughts came through the bond on occasion; Sesshōmaru said that that happened with soul-mates and that it would increase in frequency until they could actually mentally _talk_ with each other – and growled with amusement before mauling her breasts with his tongue and mouth and fangs _again_. Fuck but Maru was amazing beyond belief.

Kagome frankly couldn't _wait_ to be able to use complete mind-speech with her mate. For many reasons, most of which she would never tell another soul, but also because she could already use mind-speech with telepathic beast yōkai like nekomata and their wonderful Ah and Un, ever since just a couple moons under a year and a half ago, and it was phenomenally unfair that she couldn't do that with her _mate_ of all people.

Sesshōmaru obviously was following her train of thought when he chuckled from above her and captured her lips in a wonderfully brain-scrambling kiss. Then he helped her clean up and get dressed, kissed her mating mark (and made her knees _completely_ weak when he scraped his fangs over the mark there – Kagome was a complete masochist but she didn't care because it was _wonderful_ , and _please bite me, Maru_! He eagerly complied, tasting the blood he adored so much), and picked her up, his mokomoko-sama grabbing the armour that he always took off whenever they were in the cave-dens or similarly secure spots. Apparently he thought this place was secure enough not to hide it away elsewhere like he usually did. Sesshōmaru didn't bother taking his time to get back to camp, he used the trees to help them _fly_ there, and within a minute Kagome was suddenly at the entrance to their cave; still flushed, content, and exhausted from all the pleasure her lover had put her through, trembling from the force of pleasure from her lover's poisonous bite that was harmless to her.

Roku looked so utterly happy and content when he saw her that she came to a realisation that really, she ought to have seen before. Their Roku obviously loved her quite a bit and was so utterly happy that she had formally adopted him as her older brother – how much pain must he have been in, watching Inuyasha mistreat and abuse her? How much had it _hurt_ him, deep inside, seeing her constantly degraded, abused, and destroyed by the person she thought she loved (what she experienced with Sesshōmaru had made her realise that if her feelings for the hanyō had ever been anything more than a deep crush, they were a very, _very_ shallow love indeed) and who supposedly loved her? Sesshōmaru had clearly made her brother incredibly happy with how he was treating Kagome now... But why had she _never_ thought that maybe the things Inuyasha did angered people other than Sango?

Just because he never _said_ anything to her about it didn't mean that it wasn't bothering him. It just meant that he was too kind to make her feel guilty for actions she couldn't really control – it wasn't as if Inuyasha actually quit when she screamed at him not to call her bitch or wench or woman, after all. So she'd just stopped doing it.

She owed him a deep apology. And a thank you, for all the times he misdirected Inuyasha, downplayed negative consequences, and took the blame for the things that happened so that Inuyasha wouldn't find more reasons to abuse her. Looking up, she kissed Sesshōmaru under the jaw – something that was both an inu gesture and simultaneously her own, because it was originally done after something happened or was said. That kiss was her way of asking permission for something and thanking him beforehand for it being granted because she knew for a fact that he would allow her to do it. Sesshōmaru seemed to like the gesture – it meant fewer words had to be wasted.

A content growl rumbled through his chest and he nuzzled her nose, raising an eyebrow in query. She spoke softly, so that Roku, who was now settling the children in for a story until Kagome and Sesshōmaru finished their food and they all bathed and readied themselves for bed, wouldn't hear her. “I need to talk to Roku before we bathe tonight, please. I need to apologise for the hurt I accidentally caused him whilst travelling with Inuyasha – and thank him for all the times he helped keep him from hurting me even more.”

Sesshōmaru smiled softly at her, his eyes shining with approval. “My koishi – so honourable. It is a good thing you do; I believe it will help him heal further. This Sesshōmaru will arrange for it. For now, however, let us eat.”

Kagome nodded and served them their food, settling down next to her most wonderful beloved Sesshō and leaning into his side as she ate. He wrapped his free arm around her waist, claws tracing patterns along the side of her haori. She _adored_ the travel-clothes they had been given. Sesshōmaru still wore his traditional outfit – partly out of comfort and familiarity, and partly because people _recognised_ it as what the Lord of the Western Lands wore whenever he was out travelling.

Kagome, Roku, Rin, and Shippō had simple outfits of hanjuban, haori, obi, and hakama, all in white, with simple patterns of a leaf inside a hexagon in the same places that Sesshōmaru had his cherry blossom hexagons – only _he_ could wear that pattern (although he didn't have to – Toga-san certainly hadn't, once he was settled into his position), as it was a sign of his royal heritage. However, the triads of hexagons denoted royal _family_ , that were not of natural blood, but had been officially adopted – all pack yōkai had marking rituals for adopting outsiders into their packs – so they had been asked to choose their own patterns for them. The patterns, surprisingly enough, weren't simply on the long trailing sleeve pockets and the upper left corner – they were mimicked on the lower right corner of the haori in the front and the lower right corner in the back – the pattern resulting in a diagonal opposition – left top and right bottom, both front and back, not to mention their trailing sleeves. Only Sesshōmaru wore his haori folded and tucked up underneath his obi and kusazuri (his waist armour) – the rest of them wore the outfits in a more traditional manner. _And_ had thinner obi that were simpler and easier to tie closed than the wider court obi were.

After some decision they had all decided to go with leaves – each of a different kind. Kagome hadn't actually had much of a choice – since they were dressing in such a manner, as his mate her pattern had to be cherry blossom leaves; the five delicate leaves spread out in a three-quarters circle, with a stem attached at the bottom of it.

That had been what decided the others on having leaves as well. Miroku had a Maple leaf in his hexagons (because it was his favourite tree), Shippō had an Oak leaf in his (as a tribute to his very loved acorns), and Rin had a Bamboo leaf (signifying her freedom of spirit – and, in a nice little suitability, renewal; representative of her having returned to life twice. Rin loved the language of plants that Kagome was helping her learn). The clothes would grow with them, which was wonderful – not having to spend even more money (although Sess _was_ indescribably wealthy... Kagome was **not** , or at least hadn't been whilst growing up, and liked to save where she could) on their clothes because the children were still growing a lot. Even Kagome was still growing some.

Rin's haori was patterned with her favourite shade of orange against the white, Shippō's was a dark blue that matched of his old hakama, and Roku's was the same shade of violet as his eyes were, while Kagome had a lovely dark green for her own outfit. None of their obi were as intricate as Sesshōmaru's ridiculous sash was, simply a relatively thin length of fabric tying around the waist and knotted in the back easily, made of a complimenting colour. Rin's obi was a grass green, Shippō's was the same teal his old top and ribbon had been, Roku's was a tan colour, and Kagome's was the exact shade of cerulean blue that her eyes most frequently were – upon finding out that her pattern was to be in a deep evergreen, Sess had _insisted_.

Needless to say, their little band made for a very colourful group that stood out pretty much wherever they went – but it was in a _very_ nice way. Instead of how it had been before when she was in the Inutachi, with people wary and distrustful of them, being in the Western Lands meant Sess was recognised as their Lord (or they were simply recognised as his family, when Sesshō wasn't around) and given the utmost hospitality. Kagome had even been to two different yōkai villages so far in the three months they had been gone from the shiros! Yōkai villages were _so_ cool!

Kagome was brought out of her thoughts when her spoon clacked against an empty bowl, and she yawned ever so lightly, rubbing her cheek against her mate's shoulder and running a hand through mokomoko-sama before handing him her bowl and fisting both hands in the fur. Depending on how she touched it, the reaction Sesshōmaru and mokomoko-sama got from the latter being touched was incredibly varied – but just petting and scratching it like she was now doing simply calmed and contented her mate and his permanent other part. Mokomoko-sama didn't really have a mind of its own, so Kagome treated it a bit more like a removable tail than she did another being entirely, which pleased both Sesshōmaru and his fellow yōkai.

After a few moments of comfortable snuggling and petting (and, admittedly, some flirtatious banter and rampant teasing – Sess probably intended to maul her yet again once the pack was asleep, because neither of them had been fully sated earlier), Sesshōmaru called the children to him, and Kagome stood up, grabbing their dirty dishes and calling Roku over, asking him to grab the dishes from _his_ supper. It was rare that anyone besides Sesshōmaru himself left the camp alone, so this was the perfect excuse – they could do the dishes and she could thank him and apologise.

When they got to the bank of the river by this den, the dishes were done quickly, Roku gently teasing her by asking if she had fun earlier. She still couldn't help the flush that overcame her; talking about such things with _distance_ didn't bother her one whit, but so closely it still flustered her slightly. However, instead of screaming “pervert” and slapping him like she would have done two or three years ago, she just smiled and told him that she had had a _wonderful_ time, thank you kindly.

Before they left, though, she grabbed the trailing sleeve of his haori and looked up at him seriously, using the form of address she only used when she had something important to say to him. “Aniki...”

Roku immediately sat down in front of her and linked their hands together, squeezing softly to encourage her to speak her mind. “I... I wanted to apologise. I'm so, so, _so_ sorry for not realising sooner how the things that I allowed Inuyasha to do to me would affect you, because after seeing how very much you love, cherish, and care for me, I realise it must have been incredibly painful to watch him walk all over me with me hardly ever fighting back and simply allowing him to destroy my self-esteem and thought processes for the length of time I allowed him to affect me.”

Miroku ran his thumbs over the back of her hands and hummed lightly; he was learning to growl, but it was taking time, as was expected, so when he didn't feel he could growl correctly, he hummed instead. He didn't say anything, though, accurately sensing that Kagome wasn't finished with her talk, despite the few tears leaking down her face. “I also wanted to thank you so very, very much for all the times you helped defend me against him. All the times you took the blame, distracted him, misdirected things, and especially the times you outright lied for me. I know I've thanked you before but not _right_. Not truly understanding the sacrifices you made for me. I can never thank you enough for everything, aniki, and I love you so very much for everything you have done for me and for who you are.”

He pulled her into his lap at that, running his tongue over her cheeks to clear the tears from them as was his prerogative as family, and ran his hands along her back and side as he did so. “I love you so much, imōto-chan, my precious, wonderful Kagome. I won't disseminate or lie and say it didn't hurt – it did, very much – but I can say this: you have _more_ than made up for everything by allowing yourself to be with Sesshōmaru. Seeing how he treats you, cares for you, loves you – even to the point of allowing me, some ningen monk he hardly knew, to become actual family, your brother in blood as well as name – you have made me deliriously happy, imōto-chan. I promise that I _beyond_ forgive you, and that the pain from watching you be hurt has all but completely disappeared. Thank you so much for your apology – it wasn't necessary, but it has made me very happy to know that you understand.”

Kagome smiled, a watery, but content, smile, and snuggled into her brother's chest, growling a thank you to him before standing up, and pulling him with her, the two of them grabbing the clean dishes and heading back to the camp, hand in hand. Sess stroked her side as she passed him, making her smile down at him with a nod – she understood the silent question and answered that yes, she felt _much_ better now that she'd done that. He had probably heard most of the conversation, if only barely because they had been speaking quietly and the river was a ways away, but that didn't matter because Kagome knew he wouldn't  listen even if he could hear. Sesshōmaru _highly_ respected her privacy.

It was really nice to be trusted, and really depressing to think of how badly she had been mistrusted up until she stopped being around Inuyasha. She hadn't even _done_ anything to deserve the treatment he had given her; he had been hurting her on purpose with no good reason for it. Maybe one day she'd be able to discern why it had happened to begin with, why it had continued, but until then, she was going to just have to be content with the fact that he wouldn't do that to Sango or Kohaku or Kirara, and that she was in a place where she was treated well and trusted deeply. She was _happy_ , and Inuyasha had absolutely nothing to do with her happiness, it was the best revenge she could have, for now.

Once the dishes were put away, Kagome grabbed Rin's hand, Miroku grabbed Shippō's hand, lifting the small kitsune onto his shoulder, and Sesshōmaru grabbed the towels, as they walked to the hot springs a few caves further into the completely natural system in this mountain. It was time for a bath, then bed, and then continuing on to their daily routine while they relaxed. Next week they would be back to the daily grind!

\- - -

**A/N:** Next time... Kōga! Who finally proves that he _can_ indeed be smarter than Inuyasha is being at the moment. (I am _still_ pissed off that he refused to cooperate with me and take a break with no hard feelings... but I have a suspicion that my muse is coming up with a good punishment and explanation for him, so perhaps it was for the best, in the end. Sometimes that sort of drama is simply necessary for a good story and my muse is way, _way_ smarter than me and much better at plotting things.)

The curry Roku is talking about is Japanese curry, not Indian curry, although I have a feeling that if he ever gets a chance to try it, he will love Indian curry even more.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **There is a lemon in this chapter, after the break** – (the break _in the fic_ , not after the AN) **it _doesn't_ last the rest of the chapter, though** , and there's some **significant** character development once it finishes, so if you don't wanna read it I suggest you skim until it stops and continue from there.

\- - -

“Augh! Sess, I am going to _murder_ you, you  ass! I could have gotten the damn oni myself, but nooo you just _had_ to go and slaughter the fucking thing _right where it splattered all over m_ _e_!”

Her mate rolled his eyes, just a little, scoffed lightly, and shook his head. “Your clothes are already reverting to their normal condition.”

“It isn't my _clothes_ , it's my hair and face and neck, you ass! You _know_ I can't stand getting blood all over me when I'm not healing! Blegh, even then I don't like it. I can only stand it when we're intimate cos of my reiki burning it away. Ugh, where's that stream we were passing by?”

The Royal Jerk (yes, capitalisation was _absolutely_ necessary) pointed in the right direction and she dashed off to the stream, taking as little time as possible to wash off the blood and guts from her body. She _had_ to get back soon, because they were near the eastern border of Sess' lands... Where Kōga regularly patrolled. So far there hadn't been any problems with the ōkami – without the shards in his legs he was nowhere near as fast as he had been, although he was still the fastest of the ōkami, by far, so he only came and visited them when he was in the area or they were near/in his lands... But she hadn't seen him since she was last travelling with Inuyasha.

Still, Kagome did _not_ want to meet her would-be suitor and his brethren alone. She didn't want to field all the questions; in this case she was more than willing to allow her beloved to take his “traditional” place and speak for her if it came to that – although Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that she could engineer things in such a way that he didn't need to do so. And that her beloved was already thinking along those same lines, and willing to help.

Now clean, she jogged back to where Sesshōmaru was, latching onto one of his arms as his mokomoko-sama wrapped itself around her to cover her back up with his scent. She giggled as the fluff teased her skin, shaking her head lightly and leaning into his body as he picked her up and moved away from the kill. The others were back at camp right now – she had sensed the shard while Roku was watching Shippō season the fish they were having for dinner. Now that he had, effectively, all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted with, her brother had decided that learning to cook would be his first endeavour; as well as re-learning how to use a katana, something he had been trained in as a young boy, but never kept up with.

It was nice that once they finally met with Bokusenō-sama and got the information needed, her brother would be able to live and experience things he could only dream about right now. They were headed there at the moment, actually, their week of relaxation finished. They had flown in this direction first, however, because Sesshōmaru wanted to make sure that _nothing_ interrupted them, and that included the ōkami prince. They'd already seen to Kohaku and let him know that it might be a while before they saw him again, depending on how things went, but that they'd go visit him again as soon as possible.

Sesshōmaru had given Kohaku a new kusarigama then, one made of yōkai bone like Sango's hiraikotsu was. It also had yōki infused into it – self-replenishing yōki generated from the bone itself. It wasn't as good as a weapon from Tōtōsai would be, especially not as good as a kusarigama made from a powerful fang would be, but it was still immensely powerful and an expensive gift – it was her mate's way of letting the young teenager know that he was welcome to their family whenever he decided to join them. Kohaku had accepted it solemnly and thankfully – especially once he realised that it was so similar to his original one that there would likely be no questions about it from Inuyasha, although Sango would likely notice rather soon and ask him privately about it.

Kagome hardly noticed when they arrived at the camp; she had been lost in thought, plus Sesshōmaru was keeping her utterly relaxed with his soft, comforting, and loving growling. It became clear that he would _not_ be relinquishing his hold on her the moment they moved towards the trees; he simply sat down against one of said trees, settled her into his lap, wrapped his arms _very_ possessively around her shoulders and her waist, then wrapped his mokomoko-sama between his arms, above his arms, and even going so far as to wrap it around her hips and thighs, using the entire length of the soft pelt to cover her body.

It was _wonderful_. Kagome adored this kind of possessiveness. The “I want you to myself and I don't want anyone else so much as _looking_ at you because you are beyond precious to me and they might hurt you or kidnap you” sort of possessiveness that she had learned was status quo for inu yōkai that had been raised properly. Kōga's possessiveness was _keeping_ her; as property, as chattel. It made her a “thing” to be “owned” – although she did admit that he honestly cared for her in his own way, and wouldn't restrict her like ningen males would, because that was completely against _all_ yōkai culture. Inuyasha's had been a weird sort of “I don't know if I really want you for myself, but I sure as hell ain't gonna let anyone else have you because you're still _mine_ ” possessiveness, which had simultaneously been flattering and insulting as all get out – although she only found it insulting after she fell out of love with him (or lost her crush, whichever it happened to be).

She belonged to Sesshōmaru at her deepest heart – and he belonged to her every last bit as deeply. If _she_ had a mokomoko-sama she would be hiding him from view very much the same way. Maybe not exactly right now – she wasn't feeling particularly possessive right now because the only people who might come see them were a triad of males who were, as far as she knew, completely straight. (She _did_ wonder about Ginta and Hakkaku, their soul-bond felt very strong towards each other, but if things went that way it would be far in the future – and it was _just_ as likely to be a platonic bond as romantic, Kagome couldn't quite discern the difference yet since she couldn't _see_ fully yet.)

But she could definitely understand why Sess was acting this way. If it had just been Kōga it wouldn't be as bad – but she was very informative as to her relationships with the three ōkami, and he knew that Ginta and Hakkaku claimed her as part of their tribe – and as much as she might find them to be adorable brothers, she _wasn't_ part of their tribe. She was **only** part of her mate's pack, since she had no separate pack of her own in this era any more.

Anybody who she decided to let into “her” pack would simply be joining her mate's pack as well – they were _both_ alpha, after all, so it was her pack as much as his, although she would _never_ accept someone without his permission. The same went for him, too.

Suddenly, yōki pricked at her senses and she spread them out, shaking her head as she buried her face into her mate's soft spider-silk haori. “Triad incoming. It should be about ten minutes – they probably sense _you_ rather than me – Kōga could sense my miko-ki so he knew when it was my group because of my miko-ki mingled with Inuyasha's yōki, but I didn't want to see them until tomorrow so my ki is under wraps right now. Though... He's far enough away that he wouldn't be able to sense me for another couple minutes yet at the normal amount of power I usually let loose back then... I'll let that out, so he doesn't think I'm hiding from him.”

Sighing, she unfurled a bit of her power, letting it flare around her with no care towards her mate. Sesshōmaru couldn't be hurt by her power, even before they had mated. After all, even the purifying barrier at Mt. Hakurei had done no more than slightly weaken him – he was so immensely powerful that nobody but her could even hope to purify him, and now that he had mated her, the bond had granted him immunity to her powers entirely. Well – to the negative aspects. They had checked, just to be sure, and she could still “heal” him, thankfully. Not that he would normally need it, but there were always _situations_ in their lives. Similarly, she was completely immune to any of the poison that flowed through his bloodline; even if it was stronger than his own. If they ever had pups (Kagome had no idea why she had just thought _if_ , when Sess had made it blatantly clear that he fully intended on having _numerous_ pups with her. Maybe it was hard to think about Sess having hanyō? Whatever, it didn't matter.) she wouldn't be worrying about their poison being too powerful for her body to handle.

Her love was still growling comfortingly and soon she completely forgot about the company she was going to have shortly, closing her eyes and cuddling into him, interlacing her fingers with the edge of his haori, clutching it tightly, letting out a breathy, almost completely inaudible moan when he mouthed at her ear, trailing his tongue along the edge of it with a smirk she could just _tell_ was there. He stopped though, and nuzzled into her hair, deeply scenting her as she did the same, inhaling his amazing scent through her nose as she kept her face pressed into his chest.

She was so relaxed, content, and dazed, that when a whirlwhind blew into camp with two swift ōkami at his heels, she just blinked slowly and turned her head, “Oh. H'llo Kōga, Ginta, Hakkaku. How're you doing?”

Kōga looked shell-shocked, but his comrades crouched down a respectful distance away and quirked their heads to the side, Hakkaku speaking first in dulcet tones. The two of them had already known that she was never going to mate with their beloved leader, despite their insistence on adopting her into the tribe. “Does Sesshōmaru-sama make you _happy_ , Kagome-sama?”

“Absolutely. There are _no words_ to describe how blissful he makes me.”

Her voice was slow, content, and utterly filled with the happiness she felt, which was having an effect on their company – Kōga looked even more shocked, having never heard such a voice escaping her lips. Ginta spoke next, and she understood what they were doing. Even though she wasn't truly a part of their tribe, they still considered her a sister and wanted to make sure she wasn't making a bad decision. “And he treats you well?”

She smiled softly and rubbed her cheek against his chest, growling a low, happy growl. “Like an equal, but at the same time like the most precious and beautiful being in existence.”

The duo spoke up together after a minute of silent communion with each other, “Can we still call you sister, Kagome-sama?”

Kagome giggled and nodded, “Of course you can, silly boys. Just because we aren't pack means little to me. You treat me like a respected older sister and have for a very long time now, and I still think of you as my energetic and loyal younger brothers. And my offer from before still stands – whenever Kōga gets too mean or insensitive I'll beat him up for you. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, and have a lot more training too, so he'll definitely learn a lesson.”

That diffused the tension – between _them_ at least, Kōga was still trying to think of how to react – and the two teens giggled and ran in a circle around the tree before sniffing the air, “Food!”

“Go on over to the fire, but be careful of Rin. Roku is there though, so you can be around her even though Sess and I are staying over here; he's pack, and my big brother. And even though I said be careful, you don't have to walk on eggshells around her; she's grown quite a bit and is much less easily frightened than she used to be. She'll react less strongly to you if you treat her fairly normally.”

They saluted her and dashed over to the fire, immediately integrating themselves into the group – they were more like modern-day fifteen year olds than anyone else that approximate age she had met in the Sengoku Jidai.

Kōga was still standing, thoughts warring on his face, so Kagome took charge, engineering a situation where he would be able to talk freely without degenerating into accusations; after all, she had never once led him on or made him think she would accept his suit, and he _knew_ it, despite his hoping otherwise. “Come sit down, Kōga-kun. I'm sure you have many questions, and I'll answer what I can to the best of my ability, so will Sesshōmaru. Just be sure to ask one thing at a time so I can think clearly.”

The black haired ōkami was clearly relieved to have the situation taken in hand – even if it was by Kagome, who was causing the situation and some small hurt to begin with – so he sat down where his tribe-mates had previously been, and after thinking for a few moments, asked Kagome, “How long has... This...”

He waved a hand to indicate her and her mate, “Been going on?”

“I'm... Not actually entirely sure.”

He blinked in confusion – and some relief – at that, and she giggled, continuing her thought to the counterpoint of her lover's inaudible growling. “Let's see... The _potential_ for this started when he healed my wound after we destroyed Naraku, which would be... Almost two years ago now; wow, time flies. Yeah, two years in exactly six days. We slowly became friends during the times he brought Rin to visit Shippō, then I made an alliance with him again for whenever we had to go into his lands, and about.. Oh... Six moons or so into  that he began Courting me, but he didn't realise he was doing it for a bit, Kirara had to make him see _that_... And then, just over five moons ago, he stated his intentions. By then I was already madly in love with him, so I agreed and he took me to his shiro for training beyond what he was already giving me at the time. He made me pack immediately, and it was only a couple weeks before I decided that enough was enough and we mated.”

Kōga shifted, “So... You weren't just hiding this from me, it just kinda... Happened?”

Kagome nodded her head, “Exactly! I was not actively hiding _anything_ from you Kōga. I would never do that – I _always_ told you outright that I wasn't your woman, after all; why would I hide the proof of that? And yes, it just – happened. I didn't think I even had a chance until this one came out and flipped my world upside down.”

He smiled and nodded at her, then looked around the camp site, wrinkling his nose as he noticed a missing element. “I assume since he's not here... Dog-breath took it hard?”

She winced at that, her fingers tightening in Sesshōmaru's haori and her eyes filling with the pain of her once-best-friend's words echoing in her ears – despite being absolutely _furious_ with him for intentionally hurting her all this time, it still _hurt_ – and Kōga cursed under his breath with an angry growl, “Fuck! He did worse than just leave, didn't he? If I see that asshole I'm gonna beat the shit out of him.”

That, at least, made Kagome giggle a bit, while Sesshōmaru nuzzled her hair and tightened both his arms and mokomoko-sama around her, speaking for the first time since they got back to camp, “Feel free, ōkami. He deserves it – and more. This coming from one who had been prepared to accept him officially into the pack for _more_ than just her sake.”

Kōga's light blue eyes widened noticeably and he swore again, standing up and punching a tree. “Fuck! We might have been kinda-friends between all the fighting, but if he hurt Kagome _that_ bad, he deserves to rot in hell. Friendship _over_.”

The miko sighed and _had_ to interrupt him and let him know something, “Kōga-kun... Inuyasha ages differently. Slower, mentally. He's hurt and angry and selfish and doesn't understand why, first off, I couldn't wait for him to get over me before I moved on, and second, I had to move on with his _half-brother_ of all people. He'll grow up in a couple decades, maybe even less depending on how Sango's working on him, and probably even develop the guts to seek me out and apologise, eventually.

“I don't care if you beat him up – I agree, he damn well deserves it for the shit he said to me, and, I'm beginning to finally realise, for how he constantly treated me – but don't incapacitate him for too long that he'll be in danger of dying, please. Other than that, lay into him all you want – especially with your words. We both know you can make Inuyasha see things he didn't before because as much as he hated you calling me yours, he still respected you.”

The ōkami prince wrinkled his nose, but nodded acceptingly at that, then grinned wryly, “Despite hoping otherwise, I kinda always knew you wouldn't be mine – I'm glad this asshole's the one who got you. He's powerful and strong and treats you like a yōkai; has for a long time now. You're the most yōkai ningen I've ever met, which was part of why I wanted you so bad – powerful, stunning, and not filled to the brim with ningen sensibilities. I'm glad you got someone powerful to protect you now though. Sesshōmaru-sama, may I go sit with the others?”

The daiyōkai nodded, and Kagome flicked a bit of power towards the ōkami as he was trotting off, making him turn around. “You know, you can call me sister too, once your heart has healed.”

A rakish grin lit up his face and he waved back at them with a nod, “I think I'll take you up on that, Kagome-sama.”

At that he headed towards the fire again, and Kagome sighed softly, looking up at her lover, who was currently staring at her with a mixture of admiration, pride, and worry in his eyes. “I think I wanna be alone for a while, Maru...”

Her lover looked a bit nonplussed at that – “Maru” was _most certainly not_ for public use, excepting when it was used as a highly unsubtle (between them, anyhow, other people might find it incredibly subtle) suggestion that extreme intimacy was wanted (similarly, “kitten” had been relegated to the same position as “Maru” had) – before he chuckled lowly, “Well... It _has_ been a few days... and that _had_ been the plan for tonight before the ōkami group showed up...”

He detached mokomoko-sama, which immediately covered the areas of her body that were exposed by his arms moving, and he sat her against the tree, walking over to the fire and grabbing a few fish and a large bowl of seasoned rice from Roku, who winked slyly over towards an oblivious Kagome, making Sesshōmaru playfully flick his shoulder with a teasing warning growl. Yes, it was a bit public for those kinds of gestures, but the ōkami ruled their territory very differently to how the West was ruled; this kind of behaviour was perfectly appropriate in front of them – especially since, as Kagome's “brothers” they were extended-pack.

Sesshōmaru had a sneaking suspicion that his little mate had a great deal of semi-adopted family here in this era. Oh well – at least inu were social creatures at heart; he could handle it. Especially since, with her habits, he suspected that an enormous amount of them were yōkai and hanyō, compared to ningen. Certainly all three of the _dreams_ she'd had about people's pasts since they began travelling together had been yōkai people. The two she'd had in the main shiro and the summer shiro had been one yōkai and one hanyō, respectively – both servants and both being abused by their overseers; needless to say _that_ situation had been rectified with the utmost immediacy. And had won Kagome the loyalty of all the servants in each shiro, excepting a few vindictive, foolish girls who wouldn't last long in either place.

Gathering up their dinner, Sesshōmaru sat down next to Kagome and kissed her forehead, “Roku will get the children bathed and settled down for the night, I have a place in mind for us that has a nice big onsen you could even swim in. Admittedly, I picked this site for our camp due to it's proximity to that particular spring; this Sesshōmaru expected the confrontation to take a lot out of you as someone was bound to be hurt and you despise harming others, even when they bring it upon themselves.”

She smiled sweetly at that, “Oh, Sess, you're the absolute best. Will we be eating here or there?”

“Here, then we can go to the onsen with no burdens.”

Kagome nodded at that and neatly ate her fish and rice; it was seasoned perfectly, and gave her more energy as she filled herself up – energy she would need for the coming few hours. When they were both finished, Sesshōmaru gathered up the dishes and dropped them off with their brother, before coming back and picking her up, easily jumping into a tree and racing through them as he held her close, murmuring things in her ear that made her flush with excitement and eagerness.

\- - -

When they arrived at the immense onsen, Kagome saw that her mate had indeed already prepared everything for the tryst they were going to have tonight. Thick towels lay upon one of the boulders beside the edge of the hot springs, a flat rock outcropping held their soap and shampoo, as well as two wash cloths, and there was an utterly plush pile of furs just _waiting_ to be used.

She couldn't help the small moan of eagerness, and Sesshōmaru chuckled as he set her down, mouthing at her ear as his fangs scraped the delicate shell, “Who would have thought that my shy little kitten would turn so wanton so quickly?”

“You corrupted me... Besides, you can't say that you are truly surprised, what with how you're always telling me how yōkai I am. It makes sense that once I learned about the kind of pleasure the body can give, I would embrace it rather than stubbornly holding to ningen standards.”

He chuckled at that as he undid her obi and folded it onto another flat outcropping, then, as her haori and hanjuban fell loose, exposing a strip of flesh down the centre of her torso, he trailed his claws over her skin, making her shiver softly. Technically she should have another layer on – haori were more like jackets than proper clothing, after all, and meant to be worn over yukata or kimono instead of just a hanjuban – but Sesshōmaru was anything but _conventional_ , after all.

Claws trailed over her shoulder as hot breath ghosted over the skin slowly being exposed, all the while Sesshōmaru was slowly pulling her layers off, until finally her shoulders and arms were bare and her clothing got folded and placed next to her obi. Then it was time for her hakama, after she toed off her _incredibly_ comfortable boots, and soon the silk was travelling down her legs, allowing her to step out of the billowing fabric and stand in the cool evening air, clad only in her bra and panties.

That was one thing that Kagome would not compromise on – what passed for female undergarments in this era was ridiculous and she would rather wear _nothing_ than yumoji (which was basically a miniskirt and impossible to wear with proper hakama as it defeated the purpose of being able to move as freely) and sarashi (just a cloth to bind your breasts flat with – done how it was supposed to be done at the shiro it actually  hurt because court fashion was “flat as a board”, and while Kagome was no busty woman, she was still larger than average courtesy of her father's side of the family, but it wasn't too bad done more loosely, just a pain in the ass), so underwear was used while travelling only, and she was currently, whenever she visited home, buying _loads_ of panties so that she wouldn't be running out any time soon.

Kagome was less worried about bras – despite being larger than average (which was very small in Nihon), her chest wasn't large enough that going unsupported would give her a backache, so it wasn't a big deal. Still, Sesshōmaru enjoyed how they looked on her (although, he insisted, they were a travesty for covering her perfect body – even as he traced the deep gash that curved over her hip: something that would disgust most ningen and yōkai), so she still kept a few pairs around for when they were planning to have some alone time together.

A sharp nip to her mating mark brought Kagome out of her thoughts, causing her to moan and shiver. “Nnn, right.”

It was her turn now, and the first thing she undid was the knot on her mate's completely absurd sash – it was longer than any obi had a right to be, five or six freaking metres, so it was a _sash_ , dammit; and a ridiculous one at that, despite that it did look nice on him – and she began unwrapping it from around him. His armour was off already – she wasn't sure when he had divested it, exactly; probably as soon as they got into camp before Kagome sensed the three oni. So, next she pulled his haori and hanjuban out from his hakama, trailing her fingers against his firm chest and exploring it – pressing kisses and biting across his heated skin – as she slowly pushed the fabric off of her shoulders and down his arms. Then she folded it and placed it next to her own, and undid the ties of his hakama.

He had already divested himself of his boots, so the fabric slid off easily once untied at the waist and ankles, and she folded it as well, placing it next to his haori and hanjuban. Then she divested him of his fundoshi (it always made Kagome laugh if she thought too hard about the fact that men essentially wore _thongs_ in this era) at the same time as he unhooked the back of her bra and slid it off of her shoulders, plopping it down onto her haori, then pushed off her panties, leaving her to kick them off to the side. Within moments of her doing so, she was pressed against his body, his face buried into her shoulder and growling softly as he bit, licked, kissed, and nipped his way across her skin, making her cry out softly and cling to him.

His mouth moved up her neck and to her ear, then back down before abruptly switching sides and repeating the process. If Kōga had pressed his suit, he would have gotten a taste of this – it was typical and accepted possessive inu behaviour for someone staking a claim, and it seemed that even though he hadn't needed to do it in front of Kōga, his inner beast still felt the urge to make sure that she knew who she belonged to.

Not that Kagome minded in the _least_. She completely, utterly adored it. Once she got the hang of inu yōkai culture, she had begun craving all of the possessiveness, loyalty, and devotion that her life had been devoid of up until then.

By the time that Maru had deemed her thoroughly aware of who she belonged to, her knees were weak and her whole body was shaking – if they had been in public _that_ would have been a hell of a lot more subdued, but even when it was (yes, she had experienced it properly before, when one of the courtiers stupidly made a move towards her, thinking her a concubine. The fool got that out of his head _fast_ ) her knees still went a little weak. So, very thoughtfully, her mate picked her up and stepped into the enormous onsen with her, allowing the hot water to relax and comfort them, the tension being pretty much forced from their bodies.

“Mmmm... I love onsen.”

Her mate chuckled and kissed her cheek sweetly, “I am well aware of this, koishi.”

She splashed him a bit before diving back into the water and thoroughly soaking herself, watching absently as her lover dunked himself as well, his hair darkening from the water. Then he beckoned to her and she nodded – if they had gone with their original plans she probably would have swam a bit, but both of them _needed_ each other too much for playing around like that. So instead they lathered up their wash cloths and, facing each other, began to wash. They both used firm, steady strokes as nimble fingers rubbed the cloth in circles around their partner's skin.

When he was finished with her torso, Sesshōmaru sat Kagome on an outcropping of rock and began washing her legs and feet, before sliding her back into the water and working on her back. Then he poured shampoo into his palm and lathered up her hair, his gentle, persistent ministrations leaving her panting and moaning softly, ready to melt into the water. He didn't let her, though, instead sitting her down again so she could wash his back and his hair – Sess was picky and only let her do his torso; he washed his own legs and feet. Kagome didn't really mind though. She actively disliked feet. Even her own. Blegh.

His back was finished in short order, and then she was giving him similar treatment with his hair, scraping her blunt nails against his scalp just how he liked it, making sure to rub and scratch behind his ears as she washed the lengths of his hair. Sesshōmaru was too dignified to melt into puddles of goo like he frequently made her do, but she could tell that the attention and care she lavished upon him struck him deeply, as well as made him relaxed and content.

Then she slid off the rock and they both rinsed out their hair, before Sesshōmaru grabbed her waist and placed her outside the onsen, waving his hand in a way that meant “dry yourself off.” They usually dried each other off in group baths, but privately it was more common for them to dry themselves off, because her washing up was always completed before his was – he didn't want her to get cold and she could never concentrate to swim _after_ bathing was completed. Soon enough she was dry, and her mate was drying himself off – by some miracle of his yōki that she had never figured out, the asshole only had to wring his hair out and it suddenly was dry. Oh how she hated that – or rather, wished her _own_ hair would do that. Maybe she could use reiki... Hm... Ah, she could think about that _later_.

When he finished, he took her hand in his own, fingers lacing with hers, and led her to the pile of furs, laying her body out and hovering over her, his eyes – molten pools of the most amazing gold, filled with so much love, lust, need, and heat that it took her breath away – capturing hers and refusing to let her look away in any way whatsoever. Then he leaned down and stole her lips in a kiss that immediately sent her into overdrive – it took him less than a minute to have her mewling and begging beneath him. There was something sweet, serious, and special about tonight though, because he wasn't smirking or radiating a self-satisfied amusement today like he usually did. He was just driving her further and further into dizzying heights of pleasure.

A barrier went up then, and Kagome distantly realised that _now_ was when he was getting serious, and sure enough, he had moved down her body, licking, kissing, and harshly nipping the entire way down, and attacked her cunt, causing her to cry out and arch as his fang grazed her clit and his tongue delved deeply into her body. He was still holding her hand with one of his, claws circling over her skin, but the other one was manipulating her breasts just how she liked – alternating between gentleness and roughness.

It hadn't taken very long at all for them to figure out that Kagome liked a _lot_ of pain with her pleasure.

Maru didn't let up until she had reached a screaming climax, and then he pulled away, slid up her body, and _slammed_ into her, making her gasp and whimper, her body writhing beneath his. Neither of them talked very much during sex, letting the emotions flowing through the bond do the talking for them, but the one thing they almost _always_ did was reaffirm that this is what they had chosen, and her beloved Maru did just that then, scraping his fangs over the mark he had placed on her shoulder before growling ferally into her ear, “ _ **Mine**_!”

Kagome was near sobbing, so overwhelmed with pleasure, lust, and love, but she couldn't stop herself from responding – nor did she want to. “Nnh, all yours, Maru! Mine, _mine_ , _**mine**_!”

He nodded against her neck, trailing his tongue along her other ear and murmuring into it, “All yours, aite. You belong to me, and I belong to you, forever.”

She nodded, clutching at his back as he let her hand go, pulling his body against hers even as she arched into him, panting into his ear, “Always and forever, aite!”

Her mate growled in satisfaction, his eyes red and his markings jagged as he growled wordlessly against her mark, biting it none-too-gently. She bared her neck back and to the side, earning a rumble of approval as he began torturing her body with the pleasure that only he could bring her – claws scraping shallow gashes across her skin that healed almost instantaneously with all the energy pouring from her, large hands roughly kneading her breasts, fingers pinching, twisting, and pulling her nipples.

It wasn't _always_ like this; rough, feral, vicious, but _oh how she loved it_ when it was. Maru hadn't been too sure she could handle it until she had pitched a fit about letting _her_ decide that, rather than deciding it _for_ her. As he slowly became aware that this was just another quirk of her being more yōkai than ningen, it was happening more often; and more viciously, much to her delight.

Suddenly a thrust hit _that spot_ inside of her, while rubbing her clit nearly simultaneously and she fisted her hands in his hair, whimpering loudly before unashamedly begging, “Ah, again! Maru, more, please, _more_!”

He growled with satisfaction as he repeated the thrust – again, and again, and again, until she was screaming and cumming and “ _oh_ _Kami_ _don't stop Maru, fuck so good, more please, please Maru, please kitten wants_ _ **more**_ _!”_

Maru eagerly complied, pounding into her until she was going over the edge again, tightening around him so much that she could barely comprehend how he could even _move_ inside of her – and then heat spread through her core as he slowed down and stilled, making her moan a deep, satisfied moan. As good as orgasm felt, nothing could compare to the sheer feeling of completion that she got when he was filling her with his seed. “Mnh love... so _good_.”

Her lover was practically purring with contentment and satisfaction, even though, as he primly corrected her whenever she said that, inu didn't _purr_ , they _growled_. She still thought it sounded like a purr. Whatever it was, she adored that sound, and as he rolled them onto their sides and he peppered kisses all over her face, she was stroking her hands over his arms, shoulders, and chest, sighing in complete happiness. Nothing else mattered when they were like this – not the jewel, not the future, not _anything_.

Especially when he buried her face into her shoulder, held her tightly against him, and exhaled deeply, murmuring so softly that if she had had normal hearing for her species, she wouldn't have been able to hear him, “I will never know what I have done to deserve you, Kagome.”

Kagome knew better than to try and explain, or push off his words, or be embarrassed by them. They were more than an empty declaration, his tone told her everything she needed to know – her beloved Sesshōmaru _truly_ thought he didn't deserve her love. So rather than giving him platitudes, she thought about the _dream_ she had had of him their mating night – and the others she had had for a week afterwards – and instead she softly threaded her fingers in his hair and pressed her cheek against the back of his head and murmured back to him those words that she had thought so much herself, “I will never know what I have done to deserve you, Sesshōmaru... But I would not change _anything_ for the world, because I could never be happy _anywhere but by your side_.”

He held her tighter to him, drawing in a ragged breath as she continued speaking because this had to happen, “I really mean it. I would not change a single thing that I have been through – and I would go through it all again a thousand times over; _all_ of it, even and **especially** the things that hurt and scarred me deeply. You're worth it all, Sesshōmaru mine. I would die for you in a heartbeat – and I would live for you as well.”

She gathered him closer to her, running her fingers through his hair and over his scalp as she crooned softly, wordlessly, to her lover. Kagome _knew_ what was happening – he wasn't even bothering to attempt to dampen the emotions flowing through their bond – and it was, frankly, about damn time. Not that she was upset at _him_ that it had taken so long – she was more pissed the fuck off that it needed to happen at all, and the blame for that lay at the feet of his parents.

Sesshōmaru had _never_ been loved like he deserved to be. It wasn't even just her complete and all-encompassing adoration of him that thought this way, either. He had spoken of his mother enough for her to know that the “Lord” persona, that cold, uncaring, cruel attitude he held in public was essentially his mother all the way through – slightly softened in private, but nothing like the extent he changed when around his own family. And his father, who had never worn such a mask regularly, was nonplussed at the fact that his son took so much after his mother rather than being more open and jovial like he was, and didn't realise that the only damn way to _deal_ with that fact was to lavish as much attention and caring upon his son as he possibly could. Instead of being smart, he held himself back.

Kagome did not give a flying _fuck_ that Sesshōmaru could, now that he was himself in love, understand why his father had gone to Izayoi. It was deplorable that neither one of his parents had ever, once he passed about ten years of age, told him that they loved him any more. They didn't even have the decency to wait until it was the physical approximation – no, once he matured to a certain point any and all of that sort of affection stopped; they still slept as pack, but that was about the extent of things. He, of course, excused them for it by saying that by then they were both unhappy in the mating and then there was mounting tensions between the North and the West and blah fucking blah.

That was _bullshit_ and he knew she felt that way.

Sesshōmaru _still_ felt undeserving of love, deep in his heart, which was partly why he had been so thoroughly cold to everyone for so long, and she hoped beyond hope that maybe that part of him was finally realising it was _dead_ _wrong_.

Because he deserved all the love in the world. Honestly, most people did, but Kagome was partial to her beloved daiyōkai and thought that more than _anyone else_ on earth, her Sesshōmaru deserved to be loved wholly and completely by everyone who knew him.

Hoping to push him into realising that she loved him as much as he loved her, that he _did_ deserve her, that she would never _ever_ leave him if there was any choice, she rubbed her cheek against the back of his head again, “I love you so much that it _hurts_ , Sesshōmaru. I love you so much that _every_ _single_ _time_ I look at you my heart swells and I am reminded that there is not one single being in existence as lucky as I am to have found you. That  nothing matters to me except being with you and making you happy as you make me. _Not even my duty_ _matters as much as you do, aite_ ; as bad as that is. Let go, koishi. Believe in me; you know I am not lying, so trust in me.”

It took less time than she expected before the smell of salt assaulted her nose and hot droplets fell onto her shoulder. She crooned and growled softly again, combing through her love's hair as he finally let go of some of the pain that had been hardening his heart for so long. He was mostly silent, his breathing heavy, ragged, and uneven as he cried against her skin, but she didn't say anything, just crooning and growling comfortingly to him, encouraging him to trust in her love for him.

It probably didn't last very long, but it _felt_ like forever passed before he finished – at which point she grabbed his chin, lifted his head up, and had _her_ turn at licking the tears from _his_ cheeks. He chuckled wryly, but let her do as she wished, before kissing her desperately, sitting up and gathering her body against his.

She could hardly breathe by the time he pulled away, his forehead pressed against hers as he growled out softly, demandingly, possessively; his eyes bleeding red, “Mine. _**Mine**_. I can't... I will _never,_ _ **ever**_ let you go, Kagome.”

Kagome got her own back when she roughly bit and tugged on his lower lip, making him blink in surprise – but before he could say anything she growled to him exactly as he had towards her, “ _ **Mine**_ , and don't you forget it, because just like you, I _refuse_ to _**ever**_ let you go.”

He gave her an adorably helpless smile – which turned into a wicked smirk, “I look forward to seeing you rip into anyone who dares try to lay claim on this Sesshōmaru.”

She matched his smirk, “Ditto, love. I look forward to the same from you; it'll be fun to have some misogynistic asshole get torn into by his very own Lord – or, if not one of your subjects, then by the most powerful daiyōkai to walk Nihon.”

They both had a laugh at that before heading back into the hot springs to clean themselves up, indulging in an intense lovemaking session in the water – this one gentle and full of all the love they held for each other – followed by a cuddling session, and then dressing each other. When they were finally done, they walked back to camp hand in hand – enjoying the night sky and the quiet, still air around them.

\- - -

**A/N:** Part two – Just a note to say that no, I'm not making Ginta and Hakkaku a couple, at least I am not intending to (as Inuyasha proved, sometimes my characters just plain _rebel_ against my plans). As Kagome pointed out their bond could very well be platonic; and it is. Not that it really _matters_ , but just so y'all know. Sorry to those of you who ship them, yay for those of you who don't, and to those of you who are anti-slash, don't get high and mighty, I am _not_ anti **anything** , and even though I don't have anything planned right now (this story is writing itself at the time, I'm just lettin' the characters do as they will), there's a _very_ good chance that by the time this story is over with there will have been at the very least one same-sex pairing. End rant/run-on sentence/authors note mark two.

**ADDENDUM; _PLEASE READ THIS_ _IN FULL_!** In the future of this fic there are going to be many things that people will find weird, wrong, and maybe even distasteful. The reasons for these things are as follows.

Most importantly, this fic develops a heavy focus on yōkai and how drastically different they are from ningen: they have different attitudes towards sensibilities, different views on acceptability, and are way, _way_ more accepting of things ningen would find appalling, because they _are not ningen at all_ , they are way more similar to the oddities of their breeds, and I keep all of the traditional lore about kitsune completely intact – and the kitsune culture developed itself as well, in ways which many people will innately dislike.

Second in importance is the fact that even if I'm unsure how I feel about things or outright disagree with them, I do not have any control over how the characters, how yōkai culture (and cultures, plural), and how the world itself, develops. I stay true to things as they develop on their own even if I know people will dislike it because to do anything else would be a betrayal of these things that created themselves or have already been created. I will feel no slight or upset whatsoever if and when people inevitably decide that this fic has gone too far for them to keep reading.

Please keep this in mind for the future, and remember that I warned you. If you choose not to heed this warning or simply do not read it and decide to flame me over these things as they surface, well I frankly won't give a fuck about it and will probably just delete the review(s) in question. This fic _literally wrote itself_ ; I did not plot anything excepting the first six chapters – after that point the characters, cultures, and world completely shaped themselves as they wished and I had absolutely no say in any of it because I refuse to let my own sensibilities or lack thereof interfere in the story as it writes itself.

Thank you to everyone who actually read this, and thank you to anyone who decides to stick with me despite knowing these things. You are all beyond appreciated and adored by me, even if you decide that you would rather abandon Wandering Ways. I wrote this fic for myself, but I am _posting_ this fic for the pleasure of anybody who reads this; I will keep on posting this fic until the end, regardless of the reception I get, but if the reception is negative, it will only be because I refuse to leave things incomplete and there is a possibility that someone in the future might enjoy it. See you next week!


	10. Chapter 10

It took Kōga and his two comrades exactly six days to arrange for more patrols, inform the tribe of their absence, and track down mutt-face. And before anyone in the camp could even think to say a word, he rushed forward with his incredible speed (even _without_ the shards, he was **still** the fastest ōkami in both the North _and_ the East – not even Ayame, the princess of _all_ the Northern tribes, or her father Chōrō, could match Kōga; it was only his understanding that leaving Ginta and Hakkaku behind would result in Kagome “zapping” him that led him to travel how they could keep up now) and _rammed_ his fist into the hanyō's face, sending him crashing into a tree. The female taijiya chick looked like she was about to attack him, but her little brother held her back, shaking his head. Kōga's blood was raging to get revenge on the woman he had wanted for so long, now that he _finally_ had her permission to do so, but he still heard the younger boy mention something about Kagome telling him she would be seeing Kōga just a while back – good; Kagome had loads of common sense now, especially sincemost of it didn't fit in with ningen any more.

Inuyasha got back up in another minute, while Ginta and Hakkaku sat down on the ground next to the male taijiya, and he attacked again, slashing his claws deep into the white-haired, dog-eared whelp that had hurt someone who should _never_ go through **that** kinda hurt and betrayal. Inuyasha was spluttering and cursing at him right now, asking what the fuck was going on and couldn't he see that Kagome wasn't even here, at which point Kōga stepped back, licked his claws free of the blood (made all the more tasty because of the sense of vindication coursing throughout him), and glared at the mutt. “Yeah, but if you had a single fuckin' lick of sense she _would_ be here. You selfish, childish, foolish, beyond stupid, cruel fucker. If I hadn't promised her, you'd be worse'n just scratched and knocked about. In fact, I don't think I'm done. You ain't _near_ close to incapacitated and bleedin' out yet.”

He flew towards Inuyasha again, who couldn't even use his sword because the ōkami was simply that much faster than him now that he was actually _putting in_ _serious_ _effort_ , and began beating into him over and over again. Blocking out everything except the fact that, despite not knowing exactly what happened, it was bad enough to make her look like _that_ , even though she had been in her mate's arms and up until that point, happier, more content, and more in love than Kōga had ever seen her in her life, and that was _unforgivable_.

Meanwhile, two taijiya, two ōkami, and a nekomata were looking on, three of them with a strong sense of vengeance, one of them rather detachedly, because she knew tonight was a Big Night, and one of them with a decent amount of worry that was veering towards possible anger – towards who she didn't know, but _someone_ might be about to _get it_. It didn't take long after the conversation for Sango to sit next to Kohaku, who was playing with a miniature Kirara, and ask the inevitable, “What is he talking about, Kohaku?”

“He probably asked Kagome-ne why Inuyasha wasn't with them, and got a good look at her eyes before she could keep the emotion out of them.”

She eyed him warily, “Kagome was okay with Inuyasha leaving... She repeatedly said so... So why...”

Kohaku inhaled softly and then exhaled, getting ready to tell The Big Secret he had been keeping for his ane-san's heart-sister... and his own chosen _soul_ -sister (they weren't _tied_ , but he chose her to be that for him), who had helped _so_ much with his mental healing. “Kagome-ne made me promise not to tell you unless it was unavoidable, and it is unavoidable now since Kōga-san has already let everyone know what happened, vaguely. I was in the dojo watching the guards train with Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni. Inuyasha came in and attacked them – he almost drew Tessaiga on them, I can't remember how that was prevented, probably the beads, but soon Kagome-ne had it in her hands and was asking Inuyasha what was wrong... And he laid into her in an unforgivably cruel manner. He lied, screamed, cursed, and did his absolute best to purposely hurt her as much as possible before she gathered herself back up, shoved Tessaiga at him – he was almost transformed – and told him if he felt such a way about her then he was no longer welcome in the shiro.

“I didn't want to come with him, anyhow, but I promised because I thought we'd all be travelling together in the end, and after she saw how much more reluctant I was to go with you two, Kagome-ne swore to seek me out as often as possible to both spar with me and allow me to spar with Rin and Shippō. I didn't lie when I said I was out training with Kirara, she helps me a lot, especially as they have Ah-Un and Roku-ni with them – he is very good with using his shakujō to block and attack and helps me aim better loads. I am allowed to spar with each of them, although not every time they visit, they go in a cycle.

“Sesshōmaru-ni was the one who gifted me my new kusarigama, as I said earlier... But he did it only a fortnight ago, I couldn't imply that they were visiting me because Kagome-ne doesn't want for you to leave Inuyasha, as we are both somewhat positive that the reason he was so horrible to her was that he wanted to make her angry with him so that his time away from her didn't hurt her as much. And it worked, Kagome-ne is furious with him now, and actively avoiding seeing him until he has grown up enough that she can give him the tongue-lashing he deserves.”

Sango was quiet after hearing all that, watching the ōkami and inu hanyō fight it out, and no longer so upset with Kōga, after all. She had suspected something was fishy, and, deep in her heart, she had known that her brother was _only_ coming to keep his promise – as much as it hurt Sango to admit, Kagome was more of a big sister to him than Sango could ever be again without recreating the connection... Not because of lacking love between them, or because there wasn't enough trust, but because they both had so many _horrible_ memories of violence and murder and betrayal between the two of them that it would only take time and space for those memories to heal over so they could begin rebuilding their relationship without them hindering things.

Kagome, however... Well, she admitted to Sango while they were in the shiro that she had used her powers to help Kohaku many times, especially when he woke up with nightmares, they had just kept it quiet because first off, he hadn't actually been aware of how much she could naturally use her powers and so didn't know it was unusual, and secondly, he didn't want Sango to feel like she was being replaced. Which was the silliest thing _ever_ , but incredibly sweet.

Of course Kohaku would find comfort in Kagome – Sango did too; that woman (Kagome was not a girl any longer – she hadn't been a girl since the defeat of Naraku when she completely willingly, despite having another choice, withstood a complete cauterisation of a deep wound, with _acid poison_ _that could have easily killed her_. Sango herself would not have been so strong and brave, not when the person administering the cauterisation had attempted to kill her _twice_ as soon as he was aware of her existence. Miroku was completely capable enough to watch Kagome stitch what she could and then continue the process, regardless of what Kagome had said to Sesshōmaru about not trusting anyone else to do it for her, and Kagome had even known that at the time) had been the person who saw more of Sango's tears and heard more of her frustrations than even her parents had when they were alive.

Kagome was not a simple _miko_ – Kagome was a _healer_ ; through-and-through. Yes, she could purify yōkai, but that wasn't her _job_ , in Kagome's mind. Her job was to help and protect people – more from physical and emotional and mental pain than from yōkai attacks, although she would gladly do the latter as well if the yōkai was truly a danger. Her open mind and enormous, giving heart made her someone more precious and powerful than anybody else in this era – and, Sango suspected, her own era as well.

The fight was still going on, so Sango sighed, glad that the ōkami was yelling so hard at Inuyasha (he really was laying it on thick, but then again, he _had_ said that Kagome gave him permission, so he was probably only doing her memory justice) that Inuyasha had completely missed their quiet conversation. She had a decision to make, and a big one. Inuyasha had been tolerable company, and had even agreed to help her start rebuilding her old home, as well as to go with her to recruit other taijiya from the mountains... But somehow Sango got the feeling that even though he would willingly go along with her plans, they weren't what Kohaku truly wanted with his life. He would be willing, but not _happy_ , to do so. Sango wanted Kohaku to be happy, above all else.

“Kohaku-kun... I know you're a couple years too young to be asking you this yet, but I think it needs to be asked, especially because being with Naraku matured you a lot. What do _you_ want to do with your life?”

Her younger brother blinked at her, his eyes widening slightly as possibilities passed through his mind. “I want to travel with Kagome-ne, Sesshōmaru-ni, and Roku-ni, learning as much as I can about how to survive in the wilderness and how to fight yōkai and ningen... and then I want to go travel across the land helping other people out with their problems; protecting them. I don't think living with other taijiya... Would be a really good idea, to be honest, ane-chan. I have so many bad memories mixed up with the village, and I care too much about making sure that I can defend _anybody_ , including yōkai, because I've met many yōkai who were as innocent as we consider our children to be, and why should they be punished simply for being what they were?

“If I'm doing things in groups I have to deal with whatever feelings they have on it, but if I'm on my own, then I can decide and judge for myself and know for sure whether the death is just or not, without anybody else influencing me, just going by the facts of things. Plus that way I am not putting anybody else at risk if I happen to be wrong and the yōkai – or ningen – are more dangerous than I think they are.”

Sango hummed thoughtfully at that. Certainly, that would be a rule of the new village – they had to determine whether the yōkai they were being asked to kill was _actually_ guilty enough for death; but they had herbs that loosened yōkai and ningen tongues, so it wouldn't be that difficult. Plus, Kohaku knew all the important aspects of taijiya life by now, so he could definitely protect himself, especially if he spent a few years travelling with her beloved heart-sister and her monk-brother.

Things were so much better between them now that they had decided to change their relationship – in the end, he wasn't meant for her kind of life. She knew that, at least for a while, living in one place for more than a few moons would chafe at him, and although it was sweet that he had been willing to undergo it for her... It just wasn't meant to be. After she finished this line of questioning, she would ask Kohaku how he was doing – and where he got that adorable nickname. If she remembered, that is.

“How would you get around while—Kirara?”

Suddenly the nekomata was out of Kohaku's lap and mewing softly – and with _power_ , so much of it that even Sango could feel it. The ōkami beside them, who had been alternately listening to their leader fighting with Inuyasha and listening to the interesting conversation between her and her brother, were both grinning widely now, “She is Calling! Wow, we get to see a nekomata Call! How lucky, ne Ginta?”

“Oh, yes indeed, Hakkaku. I wonder what its name will be?”

“Well, we'll just have to let them know it when it comes!”

Kohaku and Sango were slightly confused, but the duo responded to their confusion by pointing behind the group. “Just watch, and wait.”

They did, and sure enough, not even two minutes later a _different_ nekomata, full-sized, was bounding towards them, bowing low in front of the tiny Kirara, and growling softly. Ginta spoke up for them, translating the introduction, and Hakkaku followed up with an explanation. “This one's name is Mamoru, and he has been waiting for many, many years to meet you, Kohaku.”

“Once every two decades or so, nekomata that have attached themselves to ningen go find a mate to breed with; in the wild though, they find a mate and stay together their whole lives. Mamoru is Kirara's son, born shortly after the death of Midoriko. He has four siblings from his birth, all of whom have found the ningen or families they wished to attach themselves to, but Mamoru was waiting for the right time because he _knew_ he was supposed to be yours, Kohaku.”

Kohaku reached out without hesitation – but with a strong dose of complete awe – and stroked the fur atop the nekomata's head, leading the yōkai to shrink down and jump into the young teen's lap, curling up and nudging Kohaku until he got petted. He looked very similar to Kirara, only instead of having a single curved stripe on his tails and paws, his tails were tipped with black like his paws were, and both his tails and his paws each had two curving stripes above (below, on the tails) the black tips.

Sango was _highly_ amused by this turn of events, and turned towards Hakkaku, who was beginning to speak again. “Nekomata can Call their kin; the Call is strongest with their young, but it also works for direct family such as parents and siblings. It's not just the noise – there is a strong amount of yōki and thought speech mingled with the Call, using yōki to boost the sense. They do this when they have found the person that family member is supposed to bond to, and when it is the right time to introduce them. Mamoru has been trailing Kohaku, keeping his yōki and scent concealed, for a very long time now, probably. Which is good because he will know everything that Kohaku went through with Naraku, and still accepts him as worthy to be his partner.”

Then the duo looked at each other and spoke together, “You know, ane-san can make it so you can understand them.”

Ginta continued, “She couldn't before, because she didn't have enough experience working with yōki, but she has plenty of experience working with yōki now, we could tell when we saw her last. Kirara – or even Mamoru – can talk to her by now, and lead her through the process. They would speak in your mind.”

Then Hakkaku took up the train, “We can understand them because we are beast yōkai. All beast yōkai can understand each other, whether they stay in animal form or in humanoid form. Only the furry, feathery, and scaly ones, though – the other kinds are too different. Furs understand furs, feathers understand feathers, scales understand scales. The rest can only understand their specific kind.”

“Wow... I had no idea things were that complex.”

Her younger brother looked up at her with a solemn nod, “Oh, yeah, they're absolutely right. I learned a _lot_ about yōkai culture when I was with Naraku, even if it mostly amounted to how he was insulting them and their culture by assuming this or that and blah-de-blah. The moth yōkai he talked to before he created Byakuya had been totally affronted at his lack of respect for their natural limitations, insistence on twisting the way they did things to make his incarnation more powerful, and overall shameless cheating. If that girl had ever known about Byakuya as an actual being instead of a theoretical creation, she would have been completely appalled. And done her level best to free him from Naraku's enslavement of his person, she made that _perfectly_ clear.”

Ah, the wonders of future-talk; “blah-de-blah”, eh? It really did make things more interesting, for sure, and _wow_ , that was something Sango had never thought about, although she still didn't like the once-incarnation. She had to admit, though, he'd genuinely worked against Naraku by leaving them alive more than once when he could have killed them, assuming he was powerful enough to do so. Probably not, or he wouldn't have run.

If _only_ she knew, how powerful the incarnation had been... She would be awed, amazed, and maybe even retroactively  terrified.

“Kohaku... I will support you in this – I think I've known deep down that being a normal taijiya wasn't what you wanted from life... I just didn't want to lose you so soon after I got you back... But it's been a long time that I have had you back now – over two years if I count the time before Naraku died – and I think it's time to let you go _find_ your future. If you want, you can even leave now, otōto-kun.”

Kohaku wrapped his arms tightly around her, squeezing her close, “Thank you so much, ane-chan!”

Then he pulled away and smiled a bit crookedly at her. “I won't do that just yet, though. Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni are going to visit Bokusenō-sama – when they stopped by to give my my kusarigama they let me know they wouldn't be back for a while, depending on how the visit goes... I don't want to just spring this on them either, anyway... and I feel a bit guilty leaving you alone with Inuyasha....”

Sango sighed and ruffled his ponytail lightly. “Don't worry about that last part – I think he'll be better without you around, he isn't used to kids and a part of him still looks at you and remembers Naraku. Honestly if I'd known you wanted to stay that badly, I would have let you do so, with no resentment – Inuyasha's never been the nicest to you – I thought you wanted to come with me though. No, I'm not upset, I can understand why things happened how they did. However... Ginta, Hakkaku.”

The ōkami perked up and looked at Sango, recognising that tone. “I think you should convince Kōga to go find Kagome once more so you can let them know what Kohaku decided, so they have time to get ready for his presence after their quest – assuming it isn't already completed, because it's been a while and they're probably going to be done by the time you find them. I'm sure asking him if he wants to brag about how badly he's beaten up “the mutt” would be a good incentive...?”

They grinned at each other and nodded firmly. “Even if Kōga-san doesn't want to go there himself, he'll let us go tell the tale.”

“And we will pass on your message to ane-san.”

They all smiled at each other, before turning around to look at the scene behind them now that they had turned around for Mamoru's arrival. Inuyasha was definitely worse for wear, although Kōga had still gone easy on him compared to what he was capable of. At the final battle, the Inutachi had realised just how powerful Kōga was – he _was_ the prince of one of the Eastern ōkami tribes, after all, and his Goraishi was incredibly powerful, although, tellingly, it hadn't been used today – and that Kōga had never once intended to purposely harm Inuyasha, or he would have been harmed, Tessaiga or no.

They had further proof of that now. Inuyasha was a bloody, battered mess, and the look on his face was that of someone who was willing to apologise for anything just to _make it stop_.

Then they began listening to what was being said, and all of them realised how much power the temporally-displaced miko that their group was so fond of had. “If you think this is bad, dog-breath, I'm a fucking _ant_ compared to Sesshōmaru-sama. Hurting you would hurt his mate, though, so he held back, because if he let his beast out then you'd be dead a thousand times over for how much you've hurt her – not just with whatever the fuck it is you did to make her look like _that_ when I brought you up, but for all the other shit you did to her. I love Kagome-sama – no I don't know her that well, and I ain't delusional enough to fancy myself _in_ love with her; as she's said to me more'n once, I don't know her that well.

“But I know her well enough to love her, and half the reason I constantly fought you for her was because you treated her like _shit_ , worse than most ningen treat their women, and yōkai do _not_ treat our women like that. You're a shame to your blood, and I'm surprised that Sesshōmaru-sama was willing to accept you formally into his pack, for Kagome-sama's sake or not. I know how much it hurts, loving someone and not being loved back – and I know how it feels to love someone who loves somebody completely unworthy of them, too. At least _now_ Kagome-sama has somebody who treats her like she ought to be treated and is working on undoing all the hurt you caused her. If you're upset with her for picking someone better than you then the anger you have needs to be shoved at your own damn self because you're the one who pushed her into it.”

His piece said, Kōga flicked his hand forward, and Ginta and Hakkaku smiled at Sango and Kohaku, as well as the two nekomata, before rushing to their leader's side. “We're off, see ya Sango, Kohaku, Kirara, Mamoru!”

Sango sighed and grabbed the medical supplies that Kagome had given to her when she left the shiro – so far, despite over four moons having passed, they hadn't needed to use the supplies much at all... But even his superhuman hanyō healing couldn't hold up to this without treatment. “Alright, Inuyasha... Get out of the firerat robes and let's get you cleaned up – Kagome will kill me if I let you die of blood loss.”

He grumbled, but was apparently still thinking over what all Kōga had said to him during and after the fight, because he obeyed easily, allowing Sango to clean up his wounds and wrap the worst of them. He'd be better in a day and a half or so – Kōga really had gone somewhat easy on him; none of the wounds were particularly deep or long except the first ones he'd given the hanyō, and there were more bruises than cuts. “Well, you'll survive. Kōga's right though... You really did treat Kagome in a deplorable manner.”

“Why the fuck does everybody expect me to know all this yōkai shit when I didn't have no one to teach it to me!”

Sango flicked one of his ears, hard, and _growled_ at him, the same growl that Kirara used when she was pissed off at somebody for not understanding. It was the only growl Sango could successfully imitate, but she did it _damn_ well. His ears fell back against his head, but his eyes and posture were still belligerent. “Because, you asshole, you still have _instincts_. Half of this “yōkai shit” relies one hundred percent on instinct, and _that_ is what people expect you to know, and rightly! You  knew the entire damn time that how you treated Kagome wasn't right! Otherwise you never would have apologised, even if only in a roundabout way, and you would have treated _everyone_ that way.

“But no, you knew better and you still treated her like trash, all because she had a passing resemblance to your stupid ex. She doesn't even look like Kikyō any more but you still kept comparing them even though that damn clay pot is dead – and good riddance because that _thing_ **was not Kikyō** , it was only her memories and her hatred. Otherwise she wouldn't have kept trying to murder innocent people – or staying alive by absorbing innocent souls. You let your obsession and your guilt blind you to the best thing you could have had in your life, and you lost it. It is your own damn fault. Oh, and, by the way, Inuyasha?”

He looked up at her, his golden eyes swimming with too many things to name easily, obviously taking the things that had been beaten into him and properly thinking them over. “I'm really disappointed in you. I know you were angry and lashing out, but if whatever you said to her before you left is _still_ causing her pain, over four moons after it happened, then you must have said some absolutely deplorable things that you ought to be ashamed of.”

Then Sango was off, leaving the hanyō to think about things – yet again; and they would probably sink in for a few days before washing away again, because Miroku and Sesshōmaru were right and time alone with him had made it clear that Inuyasha truly was only a surly teenager right now – as she set up camp for the night. Kohaku was fishing, and Mamoru was likely with him. She wondered how long it would take for her heart-sister to finish her quest, and how much longer she had with her beloved otōto-kun, because surely it had been a while if Kōga had sought them out... Then slowly put that thought aside. It wouldn't do for her to grow to resent the other woman, after all – it wasn't even Kagome that Kohaku was leaving her for; she knew damn well that it was Sesshōmaru. His time spent travelling with the daiyōkai had changed Kohaku, given him a protector he could look up to who, while outwardly cold, was still honourable and kind to those he felt merited kindness. And who, no matter what he did, Kohaku couldn't actually hurt, even if Naraku took him over again.

Of course, once upon a time, Sango probably would have fainted at the thought of Sesshōmaru approving of having so many ningen in his pack, but now...

Well, it wasn't as if any of those ningen were _normal_ , by any means. Kohaku had been forced into murdering his whole group that he was working with, killed, resurrected, and possessed by Naraku, only to finally escape; relatively unscathed (only Kagome and Mamoru knew the extent of the damage done to Kohaku's mind, and she had rightly kept it from Sango for now, because the female taijiya simply couldn't handle that knowledge at the moment when they'd been at the shiro) as well. That took a great fortitude of character that, Sango had to admit, was not common amongst ningen.

Miroku had lived with death hanging above his head for his entire life, made the best of it, and kept up a happy face despite the seriousness of his thoughts. He was a wonderful listener, genuinely powerful spiritually, and yet still completely irreverent.

Rin was just an anomaly – from what Sango gathered she was more afraid of ningen than she was of yōkai, excepting ōkami, and even those she was growing to fear less, and that was itself strange enough to admit her abnormality.

And then there was Kagome... sweet, big-hearted, open-minded, unrepentantly kind, fiercely protective, determined, honourable, brave in the face of danger despite her fear, and intimidated by absolutely nothing. The woman from the future was the complete opposite of most ningen women in this day and age. She was beyond intelligent, well-read, knew proper formal etiquette, could disseminate and mislead with the best of them, but knew where the line was and when things had gone too far to continue playing nice.

Actually, it wasn't much of a surprise that Sesshōmaru had fallen for her as hard as he had, really, if you thought about it. She was probably the only woman in Nihon who could fit with and match him, amongst **any** species.

\- - -

“Hey, Inuyasha, Kohaku's decided that living at the village would be too hard on him – he has all those memories of that place, after all – so he's going to be leaving now that he has a way to get around. He's already gathered his things and is in a clearing a short ways away getting Mamoru ready, so I'm gonna go say goodbye and stuff, I'll be back in a bit.”

The hanyō simply grunted, and Sango left their camp site, following behind a shrunken Kirara who was leading the way – Kohaku had gotten his “usual” summons, whatever it was, this morning, and she was on her way to say goodbye to him, and to greet and meet her other family. After a short ways, Kirara transformed, and Sango leapt onto her back, enjoying the wind through her hair as they rushed through the trees. They slowed down quite a bit outside of Inuyasha's hearing range, and Sango stayed on her partner as they sat in the forest, watching the training going on.

Shippō and Rin were attacking each other with dull bone daggers with Kagome watching them – short bone bokken to the side, suggesting they had already fought with _those_ – while Kohaku was using his kusarigama against Sesshōmaru's Tenseiga. Sango immediately respected the Western Lord for his wisdom – Tenseiga could wound, but never severely, only shallow scratches. Anyone he sparred with would learn, and well, with pain but without _injury_. And he was obviously able to regulate his speed and strength so as to be a closer level to his sparring partner, as seen when Kagome attacked him from behind; he twisted around immediately and slammed Tenseiga against her – oh, wow, was that a _Fang_? _–_ kodachi so hard that she flew all the way across the clearing; and still, somehow, managed to land on her feet with a feral grin. Kagome had clearly flourished with the training and attention her mate gave her.

Then she beckoned to Kohaku, and he ran towards her, throwing his weapon at her. Her short blade caught it, sliding between the curved blade and the handle, then somehow twisting it so that the chain was caught on her sword and she tugged it out of his hands, causing him to fall; but even as he fell her voice could be heard, “Bend your knees, that's right, now push forward just a _little_ bit to propel yourself forwards; especially if there are rocks close to you. Now, angle towards your side so that you land on your shoulder or side instead of your head and risking breaking your neck. Keep your arms close to your head; if you can, cross them and hold them on your forehead. Don't try to tuck into a ball like you do when you're falling from a high place, that's just  asking to kill yourself.”

He obeyed her _very rapid_ instructions and fell correctly, Kagome grinning at him, “Great job, Kohaku! I know you can fall while mounted and when just falling, but last time we fought, you stumbled pretty bad when you fell because of an attack, so when you work with _me_ for the next week we'll work on teaching you how to fall different ways so that you sustain less injury. Yes, that's right, Mamoru – learning how to fall is actually the most important part of training. That was the very first thing that Sesshō taught me was how to fall – I spent an entire freaking month being pulled and shoved and tripped in between the hand-to-hand lessons he was beginning – and the first week the _only_ thing he would do was make me fall. Hi, Sango! Come on in. Rin, Shippō, Roku, Sango's here.”

Then Kagome walked over to Kirara and bowed lightly to her, “Hello Kirara, it is lovely to see you again, I hope you are doing well. Would you and Sango like a mind-link so you can talk to each other properly? Kohaku's already gotten one with Mamoru, and they seem to be enjoying it very much.”

Kirara answered an affirmative, apparently, because Kagome turned to Sango, who was staring at her heart-sister a little strangely – and asked _her_ , “Sango? It's up to you.”

With only a token hesitation, Sango nodded and soon Kagome's hands were on her temples and on Kirara's forehead. It was the weirdest sensation, like a string was being pulled out of her mind, before being _melted_ to another string and lowered back into place – and then, boom! There it was!

“ _Hello, dear, wonderful Sango. It is an utter delight to finally be able to speak to you like this – nothing against them, but most miko are dreadfully boring to talk to once they reach a level I can do so, and even fewer would give me the time of day, being yōkai that I am. Kagome has been a wonderful conversationalist the past_ _year and more_ _, which got me used to doing more than just make singular comments in my head, but I wanted to wait until you were fully aware of the situation to have her connect us like so, and to wait until Kohaku had Mamoru._ ”

“Um, do I have to...?”

“ _No, love, simply think something and feel that you want me to hear it. By the by, I had a feeling that you had intended to send me off with Kohaku... and had circumstances been different I likely would have gone..._ _B_ _ut you aren't settling down, having a family, and thus needing to stop your slaying until your children were old enough. I know you well enough, wonderful woman that you are, that even when you're still building your homes you'll go to your calling – being a taijiya is in your blood ever so strongly after all. I have a feeling you will find and meet your mate_ _far_ _later in your life than most women do, but that it is also for the best._ ”

Sango grinned wryly and admitted to her friend and partner, “ _Honestly part of the reason I suggested we split up is because I am not ready to settle down either, and I don't think I will be for years yet. Knowing Miroku like I do—what?_ ”

The nekomata was giggling into her mind, and shook her head, “ _My apologies, I have been aiding Kohaku in sneaking to his training and back for over three moons now –_ _**nobody**_ _, not even_ _Sesshōmaru_ _, calls him “Miroku” any longer, he is simply “Roku” to them – which is fitting since he has very much changed from who he used to be. In most pleasant ways – it is really a good thing that you split ways because you would either, if you had stayed, fallen for him even more deeply, or gotten frustrated that he didn't change earlier like this, I think._ _Not that he could have as long as Inuyasha was in the picture, jealous boy that he is._ ”

“ _Hmm..._ _W_ _ell I've been gone, he's been around a slew of different people... so let's go see what's what!_ ”

Kirara hummed and nodded back towards her, leading them further into the clearing where Sesshōmaru was showing Kohaku a new stance that would give him better stability, Kagome was watching her children, occasionally correcting their grips or their stances, but not often needing to – children _were_ quick learners, after all – and Miroku was saying hello to Mamoru.

Then she turned her attention fully to Miroku, who was leaning against Mamoru, seemingly talking to the nekomata, as they watched the teaching going on. Sango jumped off of Kirara and trotted over to him and sat down with an incline of her head and a warm smile in return for the one he gave her, while Kirara laid behind her so the two of them could watch the proceeding training. “So, why were you given the ability to talk to Mamoru? Did Kohaku or Mamoru wish it?”

He shook his head slowly, “No, Kagome very kindly told me that with as much power as I have – and as long of a life as I will live – I ought to be able to speak to yōkai that cannot speak for themselves, in order to protect them; Kagome is bound and determined that yōkai _will_ live in her era and that she, upon arriving there, will simply make sure everyone stays away from her past self until she stops coming through the well. Which might be very soon – I happened to ask whether packages from the future might make it through the well unscathed despite her not bringing them back in person and she got a _L_ _ook_ at that.

“I know that going back is dreadfully hard for her – the inevitability of saying goodbye to her mother completely for the next five centuries, as well as losing some of the items from the future that she cannot replicate here, is highly depressing to her. I am hoping that the idea works – if so, then she can continue to have things sent to her that keep her connected to the future, although her future self might very well be the one doing the sending. Time can be wonderfully confusing.”

Then he smiled at her and tilted his head, his lengthening ponytail falling over the side of his shoulder – his hair had grown quite long compared to how it had been last time she saw him, going down to the middle of his shoulder blades, and it actually suited him well; he was growing even more handsome now than he had been before. “Now, how are you, dear Sango? Has time – and our hanyō “friend”, been treating you well?”

“Surprisingly enough Inuyasha is treating me fine, pretty much like he always did, which both makes me relieved and pisses me off because despite getting a thorough beating and several scoldings, he's still having difficulty in recognising the complete difference in the way he treated Kagome to how he treats me. I think it's unfortunately regular ningen influence – I got lucky and came from a group of ningen who were warriors first and foremost, and genders second. You _know_ that most ningen here treat women as despicably as Inuyasha treated Kagome – yes, most with a significantly lower level of verbal and emotional abuse, but still like property and not their own persons. Plus...”

Sango sighed and rested her shoulders back against Kirara, who murmured encouragingly to her, thinking the idea she was about to speak had merit, “I think part of the reason he treated Kagome so bad to begin with was because she looked like Kikyō and it was his own petty revenge against her, and then he just fell into habit and never stopped. He's so _blind_ though. But he's slowly changing – I'm not sure if it's in a good way or not, yet – especially after the beating Kōga gave him and the talk I gave him after that. Still; I don't think it'll _last_ yet, he needs someone who is far more powerful, whom he personally looks up to, to beat the truth of his actions into him – regularly, not just once or twice.”

Miroku (or rather, Roku – she had to admit the name fit the knowing and wise aura of this new him _very_ well – he felt more peaceful now, somehow) nodded sagely at her and they began a light conversation that lasted until it was his turn to go against Sesshōmaru – whose Bakusaiga, shockingly enough, turned into a staff for the first half of the sparring session. Her heart-sister's beloved was _full_ of surprises.

Then Kagome set Kohaku to helping the little ones, and sat next to Sango and against Mamoru, grasping her hand tightly, and after gently guiding Sango into admitting her theory, telling her all about what had been going on in her life the past few moons, how things had changed. Sango was struck, deep in her heart, with the feeling – no, the _knowledge_ – that _this_ was how Kagome was meant to be.

Happy and free.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** I am taking some artistic license here because I think Bokusenō should have looked far more impressive than he actually did, being what he is – though I am purposefully vague in regards to his face. Also, I was a tad bit confused about the random spew of Byakuya information last chapter, but went with it anyways because what the muse says, goes. Well apparently she had _plans_ back then. I'm still not sure where this will go, but hopefully somewhere  entertaining!

\- - -

The trip to see Bokusenō-sama hadn't been particularly long, hard, or gruelling. Hell, it'd practically been a _stroll_ , which surprised Kagome until it was pointed out to her that there were magical protections around that kept people away unless the wise old magnolia tree _wished_ to see them. Luckily for _all_ of them, Bokusenō-sama was a family friend; Sesshōmaru had grown up visiting the tree yōkai, and always treated him respectfully out of deference for his immense age and wisdom – even though, he had grumbled to her last night as she gave him a thorough back massage, the old tree teased him _constantly_. Personally, Kagome thought that Sess needed to be teased more often, especially by someone he wouldn't properly lash out at. She didn't think there would be any teasing going on during this trip, though – it was far too serious.

For now, however, the six day journey was over, and they were entering the wise yōkai's clearing – not even Jaken was repelled from the barrier. It was _stunning_ in here – the enormous tree was larger than the Goshinboku, his branches spread high and wide around the clearing, shading them comfortably from the midday sunlight. Despite the deepening autumn spreading outside the glade where Bokusenō-sama resided, it seemed to be perpetually late spring here – flowers blooming, leaves darkening, his magnolia blossoms completely extended and open as the wise, impossibly old tree blinked, the eyes set into the trunk opening fully. Kagome suspected the season was, in part, because it would have been much less impressive with bare branches all around them.

“Ah, Sesshōmaru. I was not expecting you to be back so soon – as per your request, I have made what you asked of me. Shall we get down to prior business before you introduce me to these wonderfully strange and interesting individuals you are travelling with?”

Sesshōmaru nodded shortly (what was up with his body language? Maybe Bokusenō-sama was lying about not expecting them and Sess could tell? Being a tree, he didn't give off scents in the same way others did, so she couldn't tell.) and held his hands out – and soon two sheaths fell into his palms, radiating power and strength. Then he went to a hidden little alcove of the glade and pulled out two blades – swords that, as they became visible, took the breath away of everyone in the clearing. Even Bokusenō-sama looked very impressed; had Sesshōmaru not allowed him to see them when he hid the Fangs here, or was it something else? “Kagome, come.”

She obeyed, and as he showed her the stunning kodachi she came to the realisation that _that_ was what he had been doing before they left the summer shiro. “Neither of these swords can be held or used by anyone other than you or me; they are tied by blood – and yes, this is why I needed blood from you.”

He picked up the sparkling, almost silver blade that was glowing with an inner light and held it to her, watching intently as she examined it. The blade she was holding wasn't particularly sharp, but it was polished and looked well-taken care of. The hilt was a deep cerulean blue, with a pink ribbon the exact colour of her miko-ki tied around the base. The blade itself held a bluish sheen to the silvery metal. Kagome ran her hands over it in awe, then looked up at Sesshōmaru, “Name?”

“Seimei – it is a Fang of Healing... and a Fang of Life. It is superior to Tenseiga, but has much the same abilities – only, Seimei has the ability to bring someone back to life more than once. As far as this Sesshōmaru is aware, that aspect of the blade works three times. Swiping the blade over an injured person will heal them completely – extremely serious injuries or illnesses will need two cuts. That use is unlimited.”

Sesshōmaru took the blade from her and slid it into one of the sheaths – it had a pattern of cherry blossoms carved all along the length, with her name carved on one side, her title carved on the other side, and the name of the blade carved near the bottom of the sheath on each side. The cherry blossoms were the same soft pink as the silk tie on the hilt of her blade was. It was absolutely _stunning_. “Oh... Wow... Sesshōmaru, thank you so very much! It's perfect! Seimei...”

She slid the sheath down a bit and cut her thumb along the blade edge, before sliding the sheath back up. Sesshōmaru had warned her when he told her he would eventually have swords forged for her that she would need to bind his Fangs to her by giving them _live, fresh_ blood – the blood she had willingly and unquestioningly given him previously had simply to let them know how to recognise the blood of their owner. As the sword recognised her as its owner, it _sang_ , and a voice that wasn't quite a voice appeared in the back of her mind, calling to her instincts. “ _I am Seimei, and you are the one I was made for. We shall work well together, Kagome._ ”

Then it receded, humming on the edges of her senses, projecting a sense of calmness and contentment. She was shocked out of her absorption in what the blade was “telling” her without (and occasionally with) words, by Sesshōmaru speaking to her once more.

“This one, koishi, you must be very careful with.”

Kagome blinked lightly and then realised that _both_ of the swords had been for her – which was actually kind of dumb for her not to have realised before because she was the only person in the group who used kodachi, and they were both kodachi rather than katana like Roku and Sess used. Of course, she knew that Sess was eventually planning on having both a kusarigama and a wakizashi made for Kohaku (or maybe one Fang that changed shapes as Bakusaiga could, he hadn't decided yet) – the young man was Rin's best friend besides Shippō, and had not only protected her, but been taken into Sesshōmaru's pack well before he was “given” back to Kagome's pack for the battle with Naraku. So she supposed she could be forgiven for her not thinking correctly;she hadn't seen the Fangs proper, after all, just enough to know they weren't long enough to be katana.

Oh, right, _and_ Sess had said  both of them were tied to her, earlier. Talk about not thinking. Silly Kagome.

Sess had been trailing her emotions and was smiling fondly at her as she finally turned back to him and nodded solemnly, “Yes, sensei.”

He was pleased with the respectful term, and held out the blade first, keeping the sheath for the time being. The hilt of _this_ sword was the same forest green that decorated her haori – and, come to think about it, her other sword matched her obi – and similarly had a light pink silk tie around the base of the hilt. Unlike her other sword, this one was a pure, pristine, platinum white, and while it didn't glow like her other sword did before it had been sheathed, it _shone_ in the light filtering through Bokusenō's canopy. It was also **incredibly** sharp – she barely had to press her other thumb to the blade for it to slice through her skin, and the wound immediately healed over: not by her own powers like the wound from Seimei had, but by cauterisation.

She looked up at her mate in awe as she swung the sword – which was announcing itself proudly into her mind as being, “ _Kodokuso_ _, toxic protection for a_ _worthy_ _owner_.”

“Kodokuso... Anti-venom...”

“Kodokuso is a proper yōkai blade – it has yōki attacks, which can be unlocked over time, is incredibly toxic to anyone who to touches it that is not recognised as one of its owners, and can even assume other forms, if this Sesshōmaru had it forged correctly. It can _definitely_ become a proper katana. Ideally it will eventually be able to become a longbow of the type you favour when necessary. The blade is highly corrosive and will infect, poison, burn, or destroy anyone it cuts. Kodokuso can also channel your ki, as can Seimei – you can purify with these blades; both partially and fully. In addition to that Kodokuso grants you immunity to poisons – not that it was necessary but it is something inherent and so; immunity.”

Kagome nodded solemnly and looked up at Sesshōmaru. “What must I do or have in order to wield my blades?”

“Compassion, for Seimei, as well as for both of them, strength of will. You must be willing to accept the consequences of your actions, even if they are unpleasant or unwanted. You must have the power to decide and follow through, even when mired in questions, or it will not work. You must _choose_ the consequences and the damage, as willingly as you chose to let my acid burn your body two years ago to the day. Can you do this, Kagome?”

A little _before_ two years ago, just before the defeat of Naraku, the answer to that question would have probably been “Absolutely **not** , are you _kidding_ me? I can't _decide_ to poison someone! That should be _obvious_ , duh _._ ” But Kagome had changed so much – was _still_ changing so much, and she knew that she could  definitely follow through what was being asked of and entrusted to her. She would not let anybody – not even herself – down. “Yes. I can and I will. There are no words to express how grateful this Kagome is for such an unparalleled gift, Sesshōmaru-sensei.”

He chuckled lightly at her and reached his free hand out to pull her close, kissing her deeply. She wasn't even embarrassed – it certainly was a convenient way to announce their relationship to the wise old tree yōkai. He growled contently at her and pulled away only after she could barely stand, then handed her the sheath. Where Seimei's sheath had patterns of cherry blossoms (both the full flowers and singular petals) on it, Kodokuso's pattern was of the leaves, both in the proper five-leaf cluster and separately, all in the same toxic green of her mate's various poisons and acids. Similarly to Seimei's hilt, the name of the blade was etched down the bottom on both sides, and above it was “Kagome” on one side and “Lady of the West” on the other side.

Smiling, she sheathed her second sword – taking note of the difference in how it felt; Kagome was absolutely certain that she would _never_ draw the wrong sword – and then took her mate's outstretched hand, following him as he sat down in front of the majestic yōkai, sitting next to him. She had something to do today, after all – not that anybody else knew. She'd kept this particular _dream_ from four days ago secret because it was personal.

The old magnolia smiled down at her and shook his branches, a few flowers falling down on her head as she giggled and bowed low. “It is a pleasure and a delight to meet you, Bokusenō-sama. Sesshōmaru has told me much about you and how he always goes to you when he needs advice. Please continue being a good friend and mentor to him – he does not have enough people in his life that he can trust.”

A rumbling laugh filled the clearing, and gimlet eyes fixed upon Kagome. She stayed still and calm, already knowing what was coming up next. “It is no surprise to this old tree that if anyone were to melt the heart of the pup here, it would be the Shikon Miko... But tell me, girl. Why did you pick the elder over the younger? Certainly you loved Inuyasha first.”

Kagome restrained Sesshōmaru with a squeeze to his hand and a shake of her head. If Kagome did this, _all_ of the Inu no Taishō's retainers would eventually begin to respect and trust Sesshōmaru as he deserved, instead of favouring the younger brother in the family – not that she was trying to take them away from Inuyasha, but Myōga, Tōtōsai, Isao, and the other various retainers she had heard about honestly ought to be serving their _Lord_ , not just the unfortunate younger sibling that resembled his father somewhat more than Sesshōmaru did, personality-wise. Inuyasha was exalted enough as it was, despite his hanyō status, and really, considering that he was even _capable_ of treating someone as bad as he had her, especially considering that it  had to have been _intentional_ , he should not be getting special, better treatment than Sesshōmaru.

“Bokusenō-sama, if you will allow it, I am about to show you why this happened, and why it was less of an active choice and more of a natural progression. I will be leaving this here with you, but I trust you to be selective about how you portray this – and _what_ you use from this – to others who you feel need to see what I am about to show you. Do I have your permission, wise one?”

The ancient being shook his leaves with a considering, expectant grumble, before responding with a slow, “Yes... If you truly think this can show me.”

Kagome simply kissed her mate's cheek and nodded, walking closer to the enormous tree and kneeling – sitting seiza – at the base of it, some ways under his mouth. Of course the answer to his thought was “Yes,” she did; actually, she _knew_ she could. He was no fool, after all, and she had designed this demonstration to show exactly how things stood and how they developed.

Once she was seated seiza, she bent down, placed her hands upon the bark _just_ above the roots she was between, and placed her forehead above her hands, _pouring_ her carefully-selected memories into his mind – condensed in all their intensity – so that he could see both what Inuyasha did to her, comparing it with how he treated _others_ , as well as the difference in how Sesshōmaru treated her—the last memory being simple, but unmistakeable words; “ _I will never know what I have done to deserve you, Kagome,_ ” a murmured, barely audible (but still discernible) one-sided conversation, and then a sensation of tears that were most definitely not hers, finishing with his declaration that he would **never** let her go – and hers that she would never let _him_ go, either.

It was absolutely _integral_ for some reason that Bokusenō-sama know they _needed_ each other, and could _**never**_ be parted. Kagome did not know why – would probably _never_ know why; she was absolutely fine with that. He just needed to _know_ , so Kagome would **show** him. Hell, for all she knew, _he_ needed to know so that someone else later on could know – maybe Inuyasha? Who knew. But in any case, he knew now. With the memories being condensed as they were he would be able to integrate and look through it more rapidly than others would, otherwise they would be here for _days_ waiting on him.

When she was done, she climbed into Sesshōmaru's lap, calling over the children and Roku, who had been over to the side watching in silence. Shippō clambered up to Sesshōmaru's free shoulder (Kagome had her head on the other one), while Rin sat in her lap, and Roku sat in a way that was becoming more and more frequent – using Kagome's back and Sesshōmaru's side as something to recline against, since he no longer had Kirara. Once Kohaku had Mamoru and they had Kohaku, no doubt he would go back to having a nekomata backrest. Kagome knew that they made quite the domestic, adorable picture, especially with their almost-matching outfits and obvious love for each other.

Roku spoke up once he was settled in, “How long will he be?”

Kagome shrugged, “Not sure. I gave him loads to assimilate and pick through, but I strongly suspect he will be, ah... _M_ _ost_ displeased with Inuyasha by the time he finishes the first half. Well, and later on as well – I didn't bother leaving out the dojo incident.”

“Hn, that was clever of you, koishi.”

“More like I knew actions and feelings speak louder than words. Now he has conclusive, concrete evidence that as much as Myōga tries to play up how great Inuyasha is... He doesn't live up to his legacy at all. We survived for the most part due to luck and what _had_ to be Divine intervention. As well, he now has proof that Sess and I _more_ than love each other – we _need_ each other.”

Sesshōmaru caught on at that, and looked torn between being pleased with her initiative and upset that she hadn't asked, but she silenced him with a kiss, stroking the stripes on his cheek as she looked into his eyes. “I _had_ to show him, Sess. I _dreamt_ it, and for some reason, out of everything, that was the _most important_ one. And you _know_ why I couldn't tell you until it was done.”

He conceded that, and simply pulled her into another kiss, pouring all of his passion, love, and need into her, uncaring of their company and not even stopping when Bokusenō-sama finally roused. Their pack-mates were well used to this sort of behaviour, and just ignored the couple.

Kagome could barely _think_ when her lover finished with her, and she shuddered with a soft sigh of “Mine.... love you so much, mine.”

Her mate murmured exactly the same thing back to her, placing gentle kisses all over her hair, forehead, nose, cheeks, and ear, until she was finally able to think again, at which point he stopped – albeit very reluctantly – and they turned their attention to Bokusenō-sama, who was watching them with a very strong feeling of chastisement and amusement.

“I must apologise to you, Kagome of the Shikon, and as well to you Sesshōmaru. I have always held great fondness for Sesshōmaru, but have done my best not to favour one son over the other – and my words to you before you showed me what you did just proved that I failed in my attempt; as well as that quite possibly I should not have been trying to treat them as equals to begin with, because they are very obviously not equals yet, and may never be so. Not that either is better or worse than the other in their base personality, barring their treatment of you – but they just can not, and should not, be compared to each other.”

Kagome nodded firmly, commenting, “I loved Inuyasha a lot, or at least I thought I did, romantically anyhow, and I feel very bad for his unfortunate upbringing; but he isn't the only one that had a difficult childhood, he isn't the only one who grew up feeling unloved and alone, and he isn't the only one that experienced the loss of his parents. It does not excuse any of his behaviour, and even if it did... I dare say it is worse to lose your parents when you have known them than it is when you either do not, or barely, remember them at all. I know for sure that missing my Daddy was, for the longest time of my life, the most painful sensation I could ever even dream of – it was even worse than the nightmares I had of Sō'unga while it was still in the shrine.”

Sesshōmaru and Bokusenō-sama both sent her confused looks at that, so she clarified, “In my original era, Sō'unga was wrapped up in a seal and erroneously mislabelled, held in our storage building, and it was there for most of my life... But when someone was cleaning the storage room they messed up the seal and it managed to possess Inuyasha when he came home to force me to go back to this era with him. You two both know the rest of the story – I'm sure Inu no Taishō's ghost would tell you, Bokusenō-sama, if you hadn't been aware of much of the actions due to your wisdom, especially considering how proud he was of his sons working together to dispatch that disgustingly malicious being living inside that farce of a sword. Anyhow, ever since I was incredibly little, so far back I don't even remember any more, I had dreams of Sō'unga, really terrible, frightening nightmares. Sometimes he was _literally_ ripping me apart.”

This time it was Roku who spoke up, “You know, sister... That goes a long ways into explaining why almost nothing here frightens you too terribly much. Living for most, if not all, of your life with a being as terrible as Sō'unga plaguing your dreams...”

She shrugged, “It doesn't really matter that much _why_ , does it? It just is. I might still not have been scared too badly without the dreams. Besides, it isn't that I was _never_ afraid, there were times that I was completely  terrified. It is just that I always knew I would be okay because I had faith. Rather stupidly, if you ask me now, because my so called protector was hardly the most reliable person, but I wasn't the smartest fifteen year old, haha.”

“You were smart, Mama, you just didn't have any other choice. Papa wasn't like he is now back then, after all.”

Her son smiled down at her and Kagome smiled back, ruffling his auburn bangs, “Too true. I still wouldn't have had it any other way. So, Sesshō?”

Sesshōmaru tilted his head towards her, then turned his gaze to the wise old tree. “Before the Request, introductions must be made. Against us is our brother, the monk Miroku; called Roku now, formerly plagued by having the kazaana in his hand. On my shoulder is our son, Shippō; adopted by Kagome when his father was killed by the thunder brothers. In her lap is Rin, our daughter, whom I saved with Tenseiga after a fatal encounter with ōkami. Family, this is Bokusenō the Wise – despite the politeness of asking for introductions, he likely knows these things about you already, as his roots reach deep and the trees tell him many things.”

That would explain Sesshō's body language; Bokusenō had probably been keeping track of their travels and was well aware they were on their way to him when they were. That was... Kagome didn't know what word she wanted but the implications were unpleasant to say the least. Well, maybe not; he _was_ a yōkai, after all, and a  tree on top of that. He probably thought much differently to the rest of them.

All of their family greeted the wise old tree, and he greeted them back before asking, “Now, what have you come to see this Bokusenō about, Sesshōmaru who is no longer a pup?”

He held up admirably at the tease, ignoring it and responding seriously, “This Sesshōmaru requests information on how to tie ningen lifespans to that of yōkai. It is unnecessary for my mate – but our pack brother and possibly our daughter have need of such a thing.”

“Most unusual, indeed. Yes, the lessons your father wished for you to learn have been done so in spades, Sesshōmaru.”

Kagome barely held back her scoff, instead listening – after all, she might not approve of some of the things that Toga-san did, but Sess was hers now and he might not have ever been hers if he was raised differently. For all she knew, that was _why_ Toga-san had done what he did... She still wanted to purify bits and pieces of him repeatedly, though. She didn't even dislike the man, from all she had heard and seen, he had been _amazing_. But he made some stupid mistakes that hurt her lover far more deeply than anyone should ever be hurt.

“That matters less than making sure that I do not lose my family to ningen life spans, Bokusenō. Especially our brother and daughter.”

“Hmmm, it is a very good thing that you feel that way. Sesshōmaru – the rituals I have that do such a thing will not work without genuine affection and wanting powering them – on both sides. That prevents slavery and forced bonds from becoming a problem. Not that people haven't found ways around it, but it does make things more difficult – especially since, as far as I know, no one has remembered or used either of them in centuries. Certainly not even Toga used one on Izayoi, or she would not have outlived him.”

Kagome looked at Sesshōmaru and then towards Roku, who nodded his head. He still wanted this. It was her turn to speak up then, revealing what she had learned only last night and told her family of this morning. “That will not be a problem, as Sesshōmaru cannot die, Bokusenō-sama, although we give our thanks for the warning.”

“Forgive me, Kagome of the Shikon, but anyone can die, although your faith in your mate is admirable.”

She chuckled wryly and leaned against Sesshōmaru as he nuzzled her head, “The Shikon no Tama is a vile, wicked jewel. It craves life, and will use anyone it can in order to attain immortality. There _is_ no “perfect” wish that will make the Shikon  completely disappear – the closest it will come to “dying” is being absorbed back into my body, and I already know the wish that will do that. The Shikon cannot actually cease to exist or become wholly unmade, but it _will_ cease its current state of being if I word the wish right, and upon asking the Kami, they have confirmed that my wording of wishing that the Shikon will return from whence it came will suffice.

“Because of this, the Kami decided that the bearer of the jewel, the person willing to shield and carry something so horrible inside themselves, without thought to the power it may or may not give, would be immortal, to keep the jewel from ever escaping into the world again. Effectively granting the jewel's own wish, but fully constricting it. That was me – even before they formally asked this of me last night, I had already proven myself willing to bear such a burden. I was timeless. I did not realise, at the time, that it meant true immortality, but it did... And the Kami are also _indescribably_ kind, because it was they who decided that the person who became my mate, if they loved me for who I am and not the power I hold, would be given the same state of immortality, so that I would not have to live through the ages alone.”

A wry smile graced her face as she chuckled, “It is fortunate that I met Sesshōmaru, who despises the Shikon and its promises of false power – because Inuyasha will likely never stop craving the power of the jewel, even if that craving has significantly shrunk. He would never have been able to be my mate in every way that mattered. Although I like to think that no matter what happened, in _this_ universe, at least, I would always have found Sesshōmaru – and _he_ would have always found _me_.”

Her mate laughed softly at that and tilted her head up for a kiss, before speaking to his old comrade, “This Sesshōmaru wishes to know where the workings and makings of this ritual may be found so that he can tie his pack-brother's life to his own – and to know if the ritual works on other yōkai as well?”

Bokusenō-sama's voice _changed_ then, without _any_ warning, and he began speaking in a language that was certainly as ancient as it was completely and utterly beautiful. The words wove around the clearing as if they were tangible, the air thickening and darkening around them. Soon the words he was speaking became _visible_ , patches of night sky filling the clearing and winding about them until they were encased, and the language was summarily drilled into their heads until they could understand it.

They were so overwhelmed that all of them lost time for an indeterminate length, before simultaneously “waking up” into a starry void filled with nebulae and galaxies. Bokusenō-sama's voice echoed around them, still speaking in that old language – but they could understand him now. “This one was given a prophecy when he was but a few centuries old, as a yōkai, and now it has come to pass. This is _not_ the ritual you were asking after, son of the Inu no Taishō, but it is something that is more along the lines of what your heart is seeking. Both you and your mate have been given the ability to tie those you care about to your lifespan – _and_ to your particular form of immortality, which is a very  true immortality, unlike the assumed immortality of powerful yōkai and daiyōkai. Those who care about you enough to be content with and willing to be eventually wandering from place to place, travelling across this earth so that prying minds do not realise your secret, can be tied to your existence with the knowledge that you carry within yourselves, simply by you and them both wishing for it to be so.”

Kagome spoke up softly – unsurprised that she was speaking this new language of hers; it fit somehow. “Does that mean the children...?”

The magnolia yōkai chuckled softly, “Their hearts were opened up – neither of your children would ever choose to leave your sides in such a permanent manner; even if they were unable to keep their eventual mates with them, they would still choose you.”

That brought tears to her eyes, she was so _happy_ that their children loved them that much, and even as her mate cleared the tears away in the usual manner, he was asking, “Tell this one truly, Bokusenō – how much trouble will our younger one bring us?”

Kagome understood what he was asking. Shippō was a _kitsune_ , after all – even more so after Sesshōmaru's little ritual that Shippō had agreed to, reversing his forced maturation to an extent so he could enjoy his childhood like his Mama wanted – and that implied many hair-tuggingly difficult situations. “Let us just say that Shippō is a kitsune in every way – in no small part because of his mother being so like one herself – but he will have more discretion than most of his kind. It will be a very long time indeed, once he matures, before he settles down, but he will not bring trouble to your door very often.”

He hesitated for a second, and Kagome gathered what he might be trying to say to them – her intense ability of empathy that was _usually_ thoroughly shielded away, because it was often painful and frustrating, was working overdrive towards him for some reason – and she spoke softly to the ancient tree, staying vague enough that the children would not catch on but direct enough that the adults understood. “Do not worry, Bokusenō-sama. This Kagome knows _all_ about kitsune – **and** their habits. We will support him no matter _who_ or _what_ he chooses.”

The formality seemed necessary somehow, in that moment, and as she looked over at her son and down at her daughter, she saw that he and Rin were both asleep somehow – oh, they probably simply never woke up when the adults did – so she spoke more boldly; although keeping that formal tone to her voice, because it felt very _right_. “This Kagome knows that her Shippō will likely have many, _many_ partners and possibly even many children before he settles down, that he will likely settle down with someone who is distinctly not female, and that even if his mate ends up being a woman, he will not stick to women during his time before meeting his mate.

“Kitsune lore is some of the strongest that is still remembered in the time that this Kagome comes from, especially their habits of turning into ningen women and living lives out making families with ningen males before eventually moving on. I don't know if Shippō will follow the same pattern, but no matter what he does, this Kagome will support him. My love is _always_ unconditional; however could I have accepted Inuyasha – or Sesshōmaru, who, if you recall from my memories, tried to kill me more than once before he decided that I was worth saving – were it otherwise? How could I have mourned my enemies Kagura, Kanna, and Byakuya once they passed, and even felt pity for the vile being who called himself Naraku? This Kagome could not have been born with the Shikon inside of her were her capacity for love anything less than unconditional and unbreakable.”

The air in this strange dimension they were in lightened considerably at that, as Bokusenō rumbled to them, “This Bokusenō believes that you, Kagome, are a blessing to all whom you meet – even your enemies.”

She scoffed lightly and rolled her eyes, the need for formality dropping from her as swiftly as it had come upon her, “I'm just from the _future_ where things are different and alternate lifestyles are becoming more common with every passing day. Besides, any kind of slavery is horrible and unacceptable; no matter what. They deserved _far_ better than the painful lives they were given.”

Bokusenō hummed, and his voice gained a sense of amusement with his next words, “You truly mourned for the wind witch, her void-child sister, and the illusionist?”

Kagome was a little bit insulted and incensed with how he said that, as if it was a game to him that she had felt that way. Maybe he was teasing her, but _still_! If she had been standing she probably would have stomped her foot. Ugh, no _wonder_ Sess had complained about him. “Of _course_ I did! I still do, in fact. Kanna had no will at all – can you _imagine_ what kind of hell it would be to have no emotions or will whatsoever? No ability to think for yourself? And Kagura, who _could_ think for herself, was a prisoner, trapped because her heart was held by her master and owner. I have no doubt whatsoever that she was immeasurably glad to be dead rather than imprisoned by Naraku any more, although I dearly wish that she could have been properly freed; she deserved it for all the times she helped us.

“And Byakuya chafed just as much under his imprisonment, to the point that he never did one single thing beyond exactly what Naraku ordered him to do – even going so far as to leave on many occasions when he could have easily killed us, because he hadn't been told to do so. Considering his outlook, it wouldn't surprise me too much if he even restrained his abilities some.”

She huffed lightly at his continued amusement, before the air around them became heavy with power and seriousness, the wise old tree speaking again, “If this Bokusenō were to return them back to life, would you take responsibility for them, Higurashi Kagome, Lady of the West?”

That was a _trap_ , even if the old yōkai wasn't intending it that way, and Kagome knew it damn well, speaking softly and sternly into the silence surrounding them. “No. _Hell_ _fucking_ _no_. This Kagome would absolutely  not have those worthy of returning to life returning in a manner that made her responsible for them. That would be _just as bad_ for them as being beholden to Naraku was, for all that this Kagome would give them freedom; it would _never_ be **true** freedom if this Kagome was still held responsible for them in any way they did not actively choose. They each had souls, despite that they had no control of their own lives; they will reincarnate. If they were brought back truly, this Kagome would only wish for them to have the freedom they lacked in life and some measure of ability to heal from their experiences – none of them have evil hearts or souls, they were simply unfortunate enough to have been born trapped by Naraku.”

The entire time that Kagome was speaking, power swelled around them, until three figures were standing in front of them, staring at her in awe and blinking. Immediately, all three of them bowed to her, bright, shining smiles gracing their faces – smiles that they should have been using for their entire lives, to Kagome's mind.

Sesshōmaru was the only one who seemed unsurprised by the outcome of Kagome's speech – even Bokusenō-sama seemed somewhat surprised, until her mate spoke, “Ah, the sword. Apparently Seimei is far more powerful than this Sesshōmaru realised.”

Things _clicked_ then, and Bokusenō-sama sighed, “The old language is filled with power – Seimei must have channelled it to fulfil her Mistress' wishes. Is this Bokusenō's understanding that the three of you heard all of Kagome of the Shikon's words correct?”

Kagura was the one who spoke, her voice filled with thanks and respect towards Kagome, even as she and her comrades knelt down to sit seiza, straightening up from their bows. “And your words before it, Bokusenō-sama. This Kagura does not know what you planned to do – because surely you must have realised that Kagome-sama would _never_ fall for a trap such as that, no matter how prettily it was laid out – but I can honestly say that things played out in a _most_ satisfying manner. Being the wind was nice, but a physical body has been sorely missed since my death. Thank you very much Kagome-sama, Sesshōmaru-sama.”

Then the void-child spoke up, looking around curiously – which was absolutely _wonderful_ to see! “Where... are we?”

Kagome was the one who answered that, for she had known since the moment they entered this place, and she didn't know if even Bokusenō-sama knew exactly what this place was, considering the era they were living in. “We are in another dimension, a pocket of existence that runs parallel to the world we live in, but has different rules than what we are used to – in our dimension, sitting in the middle of the universe like this with no protection would kill us the moment we appeared here. Technically you are not alive in our original world yet, but you will be once we go back.”

She nuzzled Sesshōmaru's chest – a subtle but distinct sign to Kagura, who she liked but also knew had at one point held feelings for Sesshōmaru, that he was _taken_. The other woman didn't seem to notice or care though, which was a relief, instead looking at her compatriots. “What are we to do now?”

Byakuya spoke up with a wicked grin, “Whatever the _hell_ we want. Hey, Sesshōmaru-sama, d'you mind if I travel with you for a while? That little kitsune's good, from what I saw when I was alive, but I can teach him _more_ , and I can use that time to decide what I wanna do with the rest of my life.”

It was right that he asked Sesshōmaru, and Kagome was glad that the illusionist had that sort of sense. The yōkai was being tricky, though – those eyes of his held _far_ more youth than he was displaying... But Kagome thought he would act older than he really was until he was comfortable, so that was fine. Sesshōmaru looked at her and she nodded, so he tilted his head in acceptance, “This Sesshōmaru will allow you to travel with his pack, but understand that you are _not_ pack – at least not at the moment – so you will be treated differently by some of us.”

Because, of course, Kagome would treat him like a dear friend; that was just how she was. Especially since she had always liked Naraku's last incarnation – he had loads of common sense and a great sense of humour, even though she hadn't been able to fully appreciate it at the time.

Kagura looked torn, alternately looking at Kanna and then over at Shippō and Rin, and Kagome came to the realisation that Kagura really did feel like Kanna was her little sister – but didn't have a way to raise her and support her. So she spoke up, using her position and title to her advantage. “Kagura, there is a small summer shiro – meant for getting away from the courts but still living in one place – that we own, and it would be perfect for you to live in with Kanna. You would even have us visiting you to check up on you occasionally, and I am certain you could make friends with the servants and workers there – they are truly wonderful yōkai and hanyō. That way you can help Kanna adjust to having her mind now, adjust to her instincts and emotions; she can grow up in safety, and you would have a stable home.”

Sesshōmaru rumbled low in his chest with approval at her offer, and she kissed the underside of his jaw very lightly before continuing. “You would be living there as a permanent resident – not a guest, but not family either – and you would _not_ be required to work or “earn your keep”. You may have had a short life, but you spent almost every single bit of your life imprisoned and forced to toil away all of your time working. If you decide you want to do a job or help out that is one thing, but no such outcome will be forced upon you either by those who work there or by us. Is this a suitable proposition?”

Kagura looked as if she might cry, as she asked Kagome, “But... How can I _ever_ repay such a generous offer, Kagome-sama?”

“No -sama, please. Use -san, if you _must_ have a respectful suffix. And dear Kagura – all those times you betrayed Naraku, helped us in secret, risked your life in defiance – without you we never could have defeated him. That in itself is payment enough... and deserves a reward, which this will be. Please accept this offer, Kagura- _chan_.”

As she thought, that little signifier that Kagome thought of Kagura as a friend, rather than just some being she was helping out, did it, and Kagura leaned over to hug Kanna tightly, “Sister, we are free – and we have a _home_. Will you come live with me?”

The pale yōkai – who was not so completely white any more; her skin was darker than it had been when she ceased to exist, a soft pink tingeing her pale, almost-peach cheeks – smiled at Kagura and nodded her head. “Of course I will, Kagura-ne. I would be happy to live with you and have you teach me what it is like to actually live, like you promised me so long ago that you would do if we freed ourselves from Naraku. I might not have been able to say yes back then, but I can, _and will_ , now.”

Kagome smiled delightedly and nuzzled into her mate, happy tears gathering in her eyes. They so deserved this happy ending and chance to live into the future. A comforting growl helped her keep the tears from leaking – if barely – and she took a deep breath, looking towards where Bokusenō-sama was. He was truly impressive – he already had been, but seeing the massive piles of roots tangled in each other, extending so far outwards and downwards... It was awe inspiring. “What else, if anything, needs to be done here, Bokusenō-sama?”

Apparently nothing, because he began speaking in the old language again – she could understand the words now, but they made no sense to her, and she suspected that was a natural property of the spell so that it could not be replicated by anyone who had a good enough memory to duplicate the words. Power gathered around them, and slowly dispersed, leaving them in a significantly darker grove. Apparently much time had passed in the other dimension. Sesshōmaru spoke up, “Thank you very much for your aid, Bokusenō-sama. We shall come visit again – next time, without another purpose than simply catching up, hopefully. Come, let us go set up camp and head towards the summer shiro.”

Kagome gasped as a familiar mind touched her own, and she looked up at Sesshōmaru, her eyes shining. “Mamoru finally claimed Kohaku! We _must_ visit him after we drop off Kagura; he is ready to join us now, Sango and Inuyasha are going to begin working on rebuilding the village and recruiting other taijiya for it.”

Her mate nodded to her and they all stood up, Kagome and Sesshōmaru each holding a sleeping child and Kagome holding her hand out for Roku to hold, as he asked quietly who Mamoru was, and she explained about nekomata to him. He was probably powerful enough to speak to them – and even if he wasn't (actually she didn't know if hōriki allowed for mind-speech when it reached a certain level; quite possibly not, considering reiryoku couldn't power ofuda, only sutra) she'd give him the ability. He needed to be able to help defenceless yōkai, too.


	12. Chapter 12

Kagura was settled in comfortably within a manner of days – having been even _less_ than a servant in her previous life, she treated **all** of the others living at the summer shiro in the mountains as equals... and it showed. They adored her and Kanna, did whatever she asked with speed and diligence, and pretty much doted on her. It was only then that Kagome noticed how _young_ Kagura was, emotionally _and_ physically, without someone else controlling her... So when she realised that, she looked down at Seimei and thanked her, in her mind, getting a quite smug “ _You're welcome_.” in return. Now Kagura and Kanna had a chance to experience more than what they had before.

At the moment they were headed towards Kohaku, and readying themselves for him to be a part of their pack – the ōkami trio had arrived at their camp two days ago with a tale of how badly Inuyasha had beaten, while Ginta and Hakkaku quietly informed her of the conversation between Kohaku and Sango. Really, she had known once Mamoru triumphantly let her know that it was time for him to meet Kohaku in person, but confirmation was still nice, as was the thoughtfulness with which the confirmation had been given.

Sesshōmaru sent out his usual signal, a piece of visible yōki formed into a butterfly that flew to the camp in these early dawn hours. They reached the designated clearing a mere ten minutes before Kohaku did, followed by Mamoru, who immediately ran up to Kagome; as opposed to Kohaku, who was staring at Byakuya.

Ah... Right. This could get tricky, especially since Byakuya had been meant to kill him at one point if she remembered correctly, but Kagome knew that it could be handled well if she was careful.

Kagome took charge with a smile, holding her hand out. Byakuya accepted the gesture and stepped forward with a winning smile, bowing with a fancy little flourish that was utterly endearing; now that he wasn't being controlled by Naraku, Byakuya was _very_ flamboyant in personality and actions, and incredibly fun to be around – as well as _incredibly_ well-mannered and polite – and his illusions were second to **none** , leading them all to realise that Kagome had been right and Byakuya had outright refused to use his powers to their fullest extent for Naraku, which just settled him into their little group even more deeply. He might not be pack right _now_ , but Kagome knew that he would be eventually.

She was very much looking forward to that day. But for now, introductions needed to be made. “Kohaku, this is Byakuya. Yes, he was one of Naraku's incarnations and had died. No, he did not willingly work for the evil spider hanyō; he actually actively sabotaged Naraku by only doing exactly what was asked of him, never more, and by not using his powers to anything like his fullest extent when he used them on his enemies. Sesshōmaru gifted me with two blades when we went to see Bokusenō-sama–”

She pulled out Seimei and took the lovely sheath off, “This is Seimei, and she is a Fang of Life and Healing. When we were talking to Bokusenō-sama he pulled us into a place of strong power, and when he asked about my desire for Byakuya, Kanna, and Kagura to have lived instead of died, Seimei pulled on the magic in that place and gave them new lives. Byakuya travels with us now, whilst Kagura and Kanna live at our summer shiro. You will meet _them_ later. Are you comfortable travelling with us still, despite his presence in our group, Kohaku?”

The young taijiya looked at Byakuya measuringly, then looked at Mamoru – who was winding around her feet and murmuring senseless things into her mind, confirmation enough to the taijiya boy that Byakuya was trustworthy – and nodded firmly. “Yes, Kagome-ne. I am. Byakuya never harmed me, even though he was supposed to once, and like Kagura, he obviously never wanted to be a slave to Naraku. Sango won't accept him easily though, I don't think... He wasn't like Kagura who obviously went behind Naraku's back and tried to help you or get rid of him.”

Kagome waved that away, “Byakuya can keep himself hidden – believe me, what he did for Naraku? _Nothing_ compared to his actual talents. It is actively terrifying to think about, which is why I therefore actively do not think about it. We'll let the introduction come around the next time we meet; I have faith that Byakuya can prove to Sango that he never put his heart into working for Naraku. Besides, I think once she's used to you being with us her overprotective streak will calm down some – your presence is making her more like an injured mother defending her cub, and once you're gone she'll revert more back to normal.”

At this, Kagome sat down, and Mamoru climbed into her lap, purring up a storm and making her chuckle softly. “I promise, I'll put the link in place, but before you go distracting my soon-to-be-pack brother I need to know some things.”

She looked up at Kohaku with an encouraging – and slightly mischievous – smile, making the young teen grin back at her, his smile widening when she asked, “I heard that Kōga came by not too long ago, Kohaku?”

His eyes shone at that, and Kagome realised that even the newest member of their pack had suffered with her whenever Inuyasha verbally or emotionally abused her. Maybe one day she could make up for all the pain they had undergone with, because of, and for her. “Oh, yes! If it weren't for your medical supplies, Inuyasha would have bled out not very long after Kōga was finished with him – but not because there were many very deep cuts. Kōga definitely went a little easy on him, physically, although it took him a day and a half to heal up, and he was still sore for another day after that...”

Kohaku looked over at Sesshōmaru, who he knew would enjoy this next part, “Verbally, though... Let's just say that Inuyasha didn't say a single word to anyone for _five days_ after Kōga's beating, and he _still_ barely talks. He's been acting different, too, although I think it'll still be a while before he's able to actually accept that he deserves all the guilt he is feeling right now. Ane-chan helped with that; Sango corrected his mistaken assumption that he couldn't possibly know some of the yōkai things people told him he should know by telling him it was instinct and everybody knew instinct – although she doesn't really get that for hanyō, instinct is harder to manage – and that if he didn't know it, then he wouldn't have ever felt bad for how he treated Kagome-ne, and he would have treated _everyone_ that way. But he _did_ feel bad for it, pretty often, too. Plus he _didn't_ treat everyone that way, only Kagome-ne. However, I can tell that he's starting to go back to normal, so I don't think the lesson actually stuck.”

Kagome could tell that Sesshōmaru was _very_ pleased with that, and vowed to thank Sango for that – it was something that Kagome wasn't sure Inuyasha would _ever_ have realised on his own, if only due to his sheer stubbornness of not wanting to think common sense sometimes. Or to admit his own faults. Even if he was allowing the words to slip away, they had been _said_ , and he would remember them in the future.

“Well, good. Hopefully he's _thinking_ now, instead of only _reacting_ , although I doubt it. He's still too young, yet – he needs an _older_ adult to help him learn, all of us are too young, I think. It really is too bad that Toga-san is dead, I bet he could fix Inuyasha up within _months_. Now, come here, Kohaku, and I'll make it so you can hear Mamoru. Seiza please, for stability. Mamoru, full-size, and sit or lay next to Kohaku so that he can lean against you if the bond overwhelms him.”

They both obeyed her, Mamoru choosing to lay down right up against the young taijiya, and she _slid_ her reiki through their mental barriers. Mamoru had instructed her on what to do to open people up to this kind of communication or a bond like this many months ago – and told her how to do so in many different situations as well. It was especially easy to do when she already had their trust – she had been speaking to Mamoru since only two months after beginning the alliance with Sesshōmaru; apparently him teaching her how to wield her reiki and miko-ki by using his yōki had changed her enough that she could speak to beast yōkai that didn't have a humanoid form – or ones who did and were simply incapable of speaking ningen languages because they were in their beast forms. This happened even though she hadn't been really experienced or trained enough to talk to them at the time yet. Powerful enough, yes, but power was only half the requirement, experience or training was the other half. Of course, she was well beyond experienced enough now.

Once she was inside their minds, she found the tendril of energy that Mamoru was waving at her for her to grab, and then sought out energy that matched it inside of Kohaku's head. She found it relatively easily, and then _melted_ them together, welding the twin threads so tightly that nothing would _ever_ be able to interfere with them. Kohaku could talk to any nekomata now, not just Mamoru, because linking them together had opened a part of his mind that allowed for mind-speech. Other yōkai that could openly use mind-speech would be able to talk to him now, too, but there weren't many that used it in that sort of manner; just a few of them regularly partnered with ningen, and the majority of the ones who simply had no spoken language were either mindless or lived so apart from ningen and other yōkai that they would never meet except under very strange circumstances indeed. Of course, nekomata, lesser tanuki, and lesser kitsune were exceptions to this. Ah-Un would have another conversation partner, though, which they had thanked her for once she had told them what she would be doing for Kohaku.

When she opened her eyes again with a pleased smile, Kohaku was leaning against Mamoru – and then he pushed himself up and stared at the nekomata, his eyes wide, before embracing the large feline.

They should be left alone for a while.

So, Kagome silently beckoned to her pack and walked into the trees, listening to Mamoru's thanks and giving him a welcome before seeking out another clearing. There was one not very far away, and she smiled as she sat on a log – and was promptly displaced and sat into her mate's lap. She had to laugh at that, and nuzzled the underside of his jaw affectionately, submitting herself eagerly to his attentions. “They need to bond a bit – Mamoru will show Kohaku that he has seen _everything_ that Kohaku went through and was forced to do, and still loves and accepts him for it. I feel a bit bad for Kohaku – it is highly unlikely that anyone other than Naraku's incarnations will ever understand him that well; Mamoru and I do not see him finding a partner or even having any romantic interest in his life, unless the Kami interfere somehow. Despite my helping him, he was permanently scarred by that vile hanyō. Yes, maybe Kagura or Kanna would take an interest in him, but Kagura treated him like a younger brother, and it will likely be another _several_ decades before Kanna is grown up enough to understand romance intimately; and, frankly, while it would be moderately cute, I suppose, it would _also_ be far too convenient, I mistrust things that are that easy. Plus, _cliché_ , ew. No thanks.”

Shippō, in his young wisdom, spoke up after a long silence, “At least he has Mamoru now – he won't _ever_ be alone again, and because Mamoru  saw, Mamoru knows. Also, Mama... Kohaku was so integral to bringing down Naraku... the Kami really _might_ interfere like they did with you and _give_ him a partner, one that the kind of relationship he has with them, he _really needs_. This Shippō would not dismiss Kanna or Kagura so easily, 'specially since Kagura was a _lot_ younger when we left her.”

She smiled at that and nodded, pleased with her son's wisdom – he was right, and Kagome was not so dumb as to dislike the will of her creators most of the time – although, seriously, she despised the cliché _so much_. Then she began rubbing her cheek against her mate's ( _stupid, annoying, uncomfortable_ ) breastplate. Nobody really felt like talking – although the children and Roku were having fun watching Byakuya play with his origami and illusions – so it was comfortably silent in the small clearing, while they waited for Mamoru to let Kagome know that it was okay to come back. It didn't take very long for her mate to decide that the best way to pass the time was to kiss the life out of her.

Kagome didn't mind that _at all_.

It was mid-morning before Kagome was called, and Mamoru told them that Sango would be showing up not too long from now, so Kagome let her mate know – she had already engineered a plan with Sesshōmaru so that Sango wouldn't be worried about Kohaku's mental and physical health. Yes, at the shiro Sango had seen how Sesshōmaru trained Kagome, but she still wanted a second line of defence, and this was it. Sesshōmaru discarded his armour once he was in the clearing – Kagome took the chance to push him into the trees, pull open his haori and hanjuban, and pepper kisses all over his chest, shoulders, and neck, before kissing him deeply, _pulling_ his hair roughly, and winking at him as she walked away, making certain that he knew _exactly_ what kind of night she wanted tonight to be. They hadn't had any time together since Kōga's first visit with them!

Then it was back to the clearing, watching Rin and Shippō start their daily training with their bone bokken; going through kata while Kagome corrected them as needed. Yes, Kagome used a different style than they did – but even while she was proving herself capable with her kodachi she was taught traditional samurai kata so that, if needed, she could switch up on an enemy and attack them more than one way; Kodokuso could for _certain_ transform into a katana if she needed him to. That was also the reason behind training her with daggers – a second line of defence. Especially as her daggers were made of yōkai bone and imbued with yōki. All of the bone weapons had that standard and quality – their children, despite using fairly dull blades, would _not_ be unprotected.

She was still learning her kata, but she was beyond proficient enough in the dozen that her children were learning faithfully at this time to watch over and correct them.

By the time her children were onto their daggers, Sango had arrived, and she smiled, allowing the female taijiya to look around the clearing – Byakuya had hidden himself against the trees, so that Sango wouldn't notice him. Getting an idea, Kagome concealed her scent and her ki, sneaking around behind Sesshōmaru and attacking him. He sensed her movement, however, and as soon as she brought her Kodokuso down he slammed Tenseiga upwards so hard that she flew to the other side of the clearing, landing on her feet, of course – neither Sesshō nor Kodokuso would have forgiven her if she had _fallen_ when she landed.

Kodokuso, she had discovered, was very much like the yōkai who had forged him, but had no problem vocalising comments that Sesshōmaru would normally keep inside his mind – Kagome attributed this to the fact that Kodokuso was _in her mind_ rather than speaking out loud, so he felt the freedom to be snide and condescending and patronising all he wanted. It was  incredibly amusing, especially when she had asked Sesshōmaru about some of the things Kodokuso had said to her on several occasions before she decided to see if this sense of humour was as deeply shared as she suspected it was.

The daiyōkai had smirked and said that it was good that she was getting used to those kinds of things being said – when their mating bond finally completed to the extent they had discovered it would, she would be used to hearing him say things that would have her choking on her drink otherwise.

Kagome adored how utterly irreverent Sesshō could be sometimes, and was totally pleased with his answer to her query. Similarly, she adored Kodokuso – hell, even Seimei took part sometimes, being particularly scathing when people underestimated her Mistress; or, well, Kagome _assumed_ , since that had only happened once yet. The two swords got along very well, but Seimei was definitely quieter – her will, however, and her sense of honour, were every bit as strong as Kagome and Sesshōmaru's were. Kodokuso had inherited that strong will as well; they _matched_ her, and she **loved** them so very much.

Kodokuso suggested she give Sango a tiny show, and she grinned, nodding and gesturing to Kohaku – he was _every bit_ as much her student as he was Sesshōmaru's; they simply taught him different things, because her mate didn't have the time to be training everyone in the group on his own – she had been learning hand-to-hand for over a year and a half now; and had been learning how to use weapons for over six months now, so she was a perfectly sufficient teacher for certain things, and a perfect sparring partner in all things.

The young teen ran at her, throwing his kusarigama at her, which she caught easily on her kodachi, manoeuvred Kodokuso (who was not poisonous right now, as her will was not aimed at harming her opponent, only dangerously sharp, and if Kohaku was foolish enough to get himself cut during her demonstration, then he deserved the wound he'd get from the blade, although she would still heal it) so that the chain wrapped around his blade, and then pulled the kusarigama out of Kohaku's hands. As soon as he began to fall, she instructed him – as she had many times before, only in different scenarios – on how to do so without injuring himself.

He obeyed beautifully, and Kagome grinned at him, commenting, “Great job, Kohaku! I know you can fall while mounted and when just falling, but last time we fought, you stumbled when you fell because of an attack, so when you work with _me_ for the next week we'll work on teaching you how to fall different ways so that you sustain less injury.”

Mamoru commented into her head so that both she and Kohaku could hear, “ _Yes, good – falling is most important, many people die because they cannot fall right_.”

Kagome nodded solemnly, “Yes, that's right, Mamoru – learning how to fall is actually the most important part of training. That was the very first thing that Sesshō taught me was how to fall – I spent an entire freaking month being pulled and shoved and tripped in between the hand-to-hand lessons he was beginning – and the first week the _only_ thing he would do was make me fall.”

Then she turned to their guest and smiled, “Hi, Sango! Come on in. Rin, Shippō, Roku, Sango's here.”

Once they had entered the clearing, Kagome offered her services to Kirara and Sango, promptly installing a mind-link upon Sango's acceptance, which was easier now that she had done it once before – and easier because both of the people entering in the bond were older; Kohaku's younger age had made it a little more difficult to fix the bond so that it wouldn't impede his maturation. Because of Sango's unfamiliarity with Kagome's mind, however, she had had to touch the two of them, which was interesting, feeling her ki moving around inside their heads both in her mind and through her hands.

Kirara informed Kagome that no, they didn't need to be alone properly, just ignored for a while, so once she finished, Kagome sat back down near her children and watched them train yet again, occasionally correcting stances or grips, and offering advice on certain moves.

Daggers were significantly different to swords of _any_ kind.

When she looked over after a while, Sango was comfortably talking to Roku, and it really did seem like they were _far_ better off as friends, which was a balm to the part of her heart that had felt guilt at “stealing” Roku away from her heart-sister.

Then it was Roku's turn with Sess – which was a little strange to see after the past while; Byakuya, surprisingly enough, was incredibly skilled with a staff and katana. So instead of Sesshōmaru being the only person who Roku could train with staff-to-staff, Byakuya had taken Sess' place and been the one to mostly do the sparring with Roku. Oh, of course, they _both_ went against Sess' katana for a short while – everyone, even Rin, did, although Shippō was too tiny to do so at the moment – but most of the time lately they had been fighting each other.

Kagome took the chance to go sit against Mamoru and _finally_ talk to Sango, grabbing and squeezing her hands for a long moment before letting go. “So, how has life been treating you, Sango? Mamoru says before we speak properly you need to let me know something?”

Sango grumbled under her breath and shot dirty looks to both Kirara _and_ Mamoru, which made Kagome giggle softly. Then she took in a breath and spoke hesitantly, which was unusual enough that Kagome _seriously_ paid attention. “I had a thought... and it hasn't left me yet, despite trying to come up with ways which it might be wrong... And Kirara and Miroku – or, Roku, I suppose; he certainly has changed enough that his new name suits him – thought it had merit and I should tell you. I think that the reason Inuyasha ever treated you badly to begin with was petty vengeance against Kikyō, since you had her soul... and then he just forgot that he should be treating you any other way. It explains why he never treats other women like that, _and_ why he never treated the clay doll badly – he was treating _you_ badly in her stead...”

She took mercy on the female taijiya and laid one hand atop hers with a reassuring smile. “Thank you very much, Sango. That is a really good theory, and it really does make a lot of sense – as well as makes other things make sense as well, such as why Inuyasha kept treating me like that despite the guilt it brought upon him sometimes. I strongly doubt he'd ever realise that was what he was doing if that is the case – or accept that it is wrong of him, or even admit it and that he was wrong – but I am more than willing to accept that as fact and be content in knowing that it has less to do with me and more to do with what he thought to be my soul. And I'm glad he never treated the clay Kikyō like that.”

Soft brown eyes widened and Sango shook her head in confusion, “But – but why?”

“Because even though it wasn't Kikyō, it was _part of_ Kikyō, and when that part of her died, she got those memories. Kikyō has spoken to me through several of my _dreams_ , Sango – we are very good friends, despite her death and the golem's treatment of me, which she has apologised profusely for, several times. Besides, sister, when have you _ever_ known me to wish ill upon somebody even when I disliked them – even when they tried to kill me? I was after Naraku because he wanted to destroy Nihon, and because he was trying to kill my adopted _family_ , not because he hurt me.”

Her heart-sister would start feeling guilty for forgetting that, soon, if Kagome didn't do anything about it, so she smiled and clasped Sango's hand, speaking quickly, “Now, enough about all that nonsense! Shall I tell you what's been going on since you left?”

Sango nodded eagerly, and Kagome went into detail about all the things that had been happening to her: Roku's adoption into the pack, their last three weeks at the _court_ shiro and moving to the summer shiro for the last two weeks of their staying in one place – just to familiarise them with the servants and workers – their myriad travels and enemies, the meeting with Kōga, and, finally, Bokusenō-sama. Kagome made sure not to tell Sango why they went to see the tree, exactly, passing it off as getting her Fang kodachi from Sesshōmaru – the sheaths, after all, were from Bokusenō-sama. Then she went into an in-depth description of the dimension they had been in, and told Sango about the trick Seimei pulled; and _why_ she pulled it.

Kagome wasn't that surprised to see a sceptical sort of excitement on the taijiya's face at the news – she had never been as convinced as Kagome of their unwillingness (and Kagome firmly would not even _think_ about reminding Sango that Kanna hadn't had a will or emotions because that was just proof that she hadn't been  unwilling, she _couldn't_ have been if she had no emotions or will of her own), although Sango had _had_ to believe that Byakuya was displeased, since he had left them alone when he could have very easily killed them, more than once. Also, despite her ease and familiarity with _many_ yōkai by now, she still had some prejudices that she hadn't let go of; but she was happy for Kagome, and trusted her judgement to an extent, now that she wasn't as innocent and “everyone has good in them” like she had been to begin with in her experiences here.

Which was good – now that Sango knew that Byakuya was wandering around, when she saw him with their group it wouldn't be as much of a shock, and Kagome would very honestly tell Sango that Byakuya had offered to help train Shippō, without telling Sango exactly how long he had been travelling with them.

She was _definitely_ not above misdirection and lies of omission if it meant keeping people happy and safe – and keeping her life as _drama free_ as physically, mentally, and emotionally possible. Kagome _despised_ drama – not as in acting, but the kind that was just unnecessary upset to one's life – and did her level best to avoid it and take precautions to keep it from her life. Shockingly enough, Sesshōmaru didn't resent that about her – he actually _appreciated_ it, and would gladly let her do her thing while he stood by her side, stoic and silent. Just because he was too honourable to lie didn't mean that he could not see the value in dishonesty when used for a good purpose – he despised drama as much as Kagome did; if not more.

Seimei prodded Kagome from her thoughts, and she smiled, “Would you like to see them, Sango? You can even hold Seimei, but you can't touch Kodokuso – he's highly corrosive and toxic to anyone except for Sesshōmaru and myself.”

“Understood.”

Kagome took out Kodokuso first, the white metal looking deceptively innocent in the late morning sunlight. Its sharpness was immediately clear, however, as she slid the sheath off and allowed Sango to look at it. The taijiya made a sound of deep appreciation and awe, before looking at the sword with both excitement and wariness – she could sense how dangerous he was; good. She allowed her heart-sister and friend to admire him a bit longer – the arrogant blade was intensely pleased with the attention he was getting – before sheathing him back up, sliding him into her obi, and pulling out Seimei.

_This_ blade, she allowed Sango to hold and examine herself, Seimei being very happy with the “clean, honourable soul” of Kagome's heart-sister.

“ _You surround yourself with good people, Kagome. I am most pleased to be in your hands._ ”

The comment almost made her blush – it was such a strange thing, to be complimented by a _sword_ , of all things. Still, she kept her composure, despite the amusement thrumming through her mating bond – dammit, he _knew_. Ass. He would tease her mercilessly about getting flustered because her _sword_ complimented her, now.

Why did she love him, anyway?

Never mind, there were _way_ too many answers to that question. She would just bear up under the teasing and get him back when she could. Which might be never, or might be tonight – it was impossible to tell, with them.

Finally, Sango handed Seimei back to Kagome, “It seems very similar to Tenseiga?”

Kagome nodded, “Sess made her to be superior to Tenseiga – not for any stupid reason like proving that he had surpassed his father, but because he had the power to and because he knows me far too well – I would be torn to pieces if someone I loved got themselves killed more than once and I couldn't help them one time because I had already resurrected them – _especially_ if it happened because of something **stupid** like them getting the flu or pneumonia badly enough that not even a trip back to my original era could help them. It's just a fact that people in this era die so much more easily than they do where I come from.

“Besides,” she continued, “It isn't perfect – Sess admitted that he had tried to make it so that I could resurrect people after a longer time period than Tenseiga could allow, but it wouldn't work – the messengers simply disappear after a _specific_ length of time, and nothing changes that. He _did_ learn something, though – the length of time is different depending on how hard the person is fighting going to the afterlife. So for me at least – anyone who knows about Seimei would likely fight harder, and give me more of a chance to save them. Strangers, though... Well... I will have to harden my heart, just a bit, so that sorrow doesn't break me.”

No need to let Sango know her heart was already hardened some, her heart-sister would be far too sad at that.

Kagome looked around the clearing and was pleased to see everyone in groups talking to themselves – Sesshōmaru was watching over them near where Byakuya was hidden; probably conversing with the other yōkai quietly enough not to be heard by Sango. Kagome was purposely not listening in that direction, because Byakuya was delightfully irreverent – more so than Roku and Sess were – and would be saying things that were specifically designed to make her crack up if she was listening to him. Roku and Shippō were talking together, the monk grooming her son's auburn hair easily, and Rin and Kohaku were catching up with each other – they were very good friends, and Kagome was slightly saddened at that.

If things had been different they might have ended up together, but for all her immense wisdom (dying twice _changed_ a person, and Rin held a wisdom far beyond her short eleven years of age) Rin still was incapable of truly comprehending what the kind of cruelty forced upon Kohaku did to a person in their deepest heart and mind. She was wise, certainly, but it was an innocent wisdom; Rin was someone Kagome could not ever see being in a relationship pretty much full stop, unless it was with Shippō, because he was the only person who could actually understand her outlook on the world. Since he was a kitsune, it was somewhat unlikely (not  impossible though, considering how kitsune were, but they would deal with that if it ever happened), so Rin would probably very happily stay single for her entire life.

Rin saw deep into people's souls and understood their true selves, and unless you were soul-bound to someone, that pretty much prevented any relationship from lasting, because only one partner knowing the other so fully led to some serious disparity.

She did not, however, understand their minds as instinctively, despite being able to read hearts as if they were her own; bare and open for all the world to see. Kagome was pretty sure that Rin had a decent dose of empathy going on, and even though it wasn't enough to harm her like Kagome's own ability was for _her_ , Kagome would still show Rin how to shield herself with her reiki when she got a couple years older. She should be able to _choose_ whether or not she wanted to know someone that intimately, after all.

So despite their deep friendship and understanding – they had _both_ been to Hell, after all, and had both died and been resurrected – Kagome knew that they would end up being more like cousins than anything else. Even though, and she had to suppress a giggle at this _every_ time she thought about it, Kohaku could _technically_ be called Rin's uncle, since he referred to both Kagome and Sesshōmaru as siblings.

Her life was utterly _hilarious_ sometimes.

“Kagome?”

She jerked back into the present and smiled placatingly over at Sango, “Sorry, sister – I was checking up on my pack and got lost in thought. My life is pretty funny at times.”

Sango tilted her head, curious, and Kagome lowered her voice so that only the yōkai members of her group could hear her, as far away as she was from the rest of her family – Roku and Rin already knew, and she didn't _want_ Kohaku to know; he needed to realise it on his own, when he was mentally and emotionally mature enough to notice that women – or men – didn't catch his interest like they would someone his age, if he ever even did. It would only be _then_ that Kagome, Sesshōmaru, and Mamoru would sit down and explain their thoughts to him, and help him through anything that needed helping through.

“I was just thinking that Rin and Kohaku are so much like cousins – when, in all reality, because he addresses Sesshōmaru and I as siblings, he could technically be called her uncle – an uncle only three years older than her.”

Her brunette friend giggled helplessly at that, but then tilted her head, “Cousins, though? I would have thought...”

And here it came. Kagome _hated_ being the bearer of bad news, despite how damn suited she was for the job. “Sango... Think a little bit about everything Kohaku has been through. Do you honestly think he could ever be with someone who hasn't experienced something at least somewhat similar to that? The sheer level of betrayal, loss of  control, loss of life, those memories of all those _murders_... Kohaku does not trust himself on many levels to this very day, and how can he be with anyone else when he still does not trust himself? This is not something that, even with my level of ability with healing, can be “fixed”, or even dampened; not without a significant amount of time and work, more than just a few years.”

She took in a deep breath and looked at her heart-sister with deadly seriousness – and intense, all-encompassing compassion, letting her know something that Kagome knew was truth, deep in her heart. However, because she had been informed by Mamoru that Kohaku was desperate to live his life as much as he could, she knew he would definitely choose forever, so she had to word this right. “Sango, you will _never_ be an aunt to Kohaku's children in your lifetime. Part of the reason Mamoru chose Kohaku was so that he would not be alone, despite his inability to form a romantic attachment to someone who hasn't experienced at least a significant amount of trauma as he has experienced.”

Sango seemed a bit shell-shocked upon hearing that, and Kagome moved to sit next to her, wrapping her arms around her as Mamoru and Kirara blocked them from sight – no doubt also working some magic, with the aid of Byakuya, that made everything seem normal; nekomata could make themselves heard to _any_ yōkai.

“Before you ask; no we have _not_ told him this – there  is a very slim chance that we are wrong, but Mamoru, who has been following Kohaku for years, even before the village was attacked by Naraku, and who saw into the very depths of Kohaku's mind, soul, and heart, confirmed our beliefs. In any case, we refuse to force him into that position – just in case he miraculously finds someone before he comes of age instead of far after as we feel it will be. If after he comes of age, he asks us about his lack of attraction to people, we will tell him then – but no sooner. And do not be upset with Mamoru, either; he _could not_ make himself known or aid in any way until it was the right time. Bonded nekomata follow by very specific rules and to break them is to deny any chance for the bond to complete.

“Besides – were it not for the involvement of Kohaku, Naraku very well might have won. Now come, sister – let it all out, I'm here for you, Sango-ne.”

That did it, and soon her heart-sister was sobbing into her haori, clutching desperately at Kagome – who was, by now, actually a little taller than Sango, and made for a better crying post – as she let out her anger, frustration, and sadness. As always, however, the tears did not last long, and Kagome used a bit of her reiki to suppress the smell of salt and to make Sango look less like she had just been crying. Then, with a speed and ease which obviously awed Sango, although Kagome herself was not surprised – greater yōkai were far smarter and more organised than most ningen were, after all, and despite not having humanoid forms, nekomata _were_ greater yōkai rather than lesser yōkai – Mamoru and Kirara were back behind them, nudging them to stand up and herding them towards the rest of the group with a comment of, “ _Inuyasha is making his way here; if you do not wish for a confrontation it would be best to clear the signs of your presence and depart or stay hidden._ ”

Kagome relayed the information to her group, who all collectively agreed to stay hidden and watch. So they said their goodbyes to Sango, leaving Kohaku behind so he could say goodbye to Inuyasha, and slid into the trees, their presence completely masked by Byakuya as they watched on. Inuyasha was gruff, hardly speaking at all, despite Kohaku's polite deference, and soon Kohaku was off – in a direction they had agreed upon before, in case Inuyasha decided to follow the young taijiya and see if he was meeting up with anyone. It was a lovely place Kohaku was heading towards, quite a bit away from here, and they planned to camp there tonight, but it _looked_ indefensible and unsuitable, so it would seem more like Kohaku was truly staying alone.

That, it seemed, turned out to be a good idea because shortly after Kohaku left, Inuyasha said he was going off to “scout” and left in the opposite direction – before doubling back around and going, straight as an arrow, right towards Kohaku. The entire group followed behind him – Miroku flying with Sesshōmaru on mokomoko-sama, the children and Jaken on Ah-Un, Kagome leaping through the trees silently with Byakuya at her side – he could fly, as well, but admitted that running through trees was more fun; Kagome, personally, agreed with that. Not that she disliked flying; she _adored_ it. But it was simply more exhilarating to be “flying” through the trees under her own ability.

Well... Okay, there _were_ times that Sess made flying _well more_ than simply enjoyable... Those times, she never thought of _anything_ as better than flying with him, rare though they were – they were all the more precious to her because of the rarity.

It didn't take them long to catch up to Inuyasha, who was simply watching the young taijiya and muttering to himself about supposing that the “little brat” ( _fucking seriously_? Kohaku was the opposite of a brat, damn, someone seriously needed to get his head fixed) hadn't run off to “that stupid Sesshōmaru” like he'd thought he had. At least, not yet. It was another half hour before Inuyasha decided that if they were going to meet up, they would have by now, and Byakuya followed behind the hanyō as he dashed back towards Sango – being a full yōkai (created or not), he was faster than Inuyasha, despite the strength of his father's blood. Especially since, enjoying it less or not, he _would_ be flying back to their designated camp once he made sure Inuyasha was back with Sango.

It wasn't until he was back that they felt safe to enter the break in the woods that was caused by a sheer cliff with a long, stunning waterfall, a river cutting through the trees and a cave behind the falls that, according to Sesshōmaru, had three different onsen in it. That was _beyond_ convenient – Byakuya would take the smallest one, Kohaku and the children would take the next one, and she, her big brother, and her mate would take the largest one, which happened to also be the most private one – not that that was completely necessary since either and both of them could put up barriers to keep them from being seen, heard, and interrupted for any reason that was not life-threatening.

When Kagome took Kohaku aside and asked if he would rather go ahead and read the book he needed to read so he could be marked as pack now or later, he had looked surreptitiously over at Byakuya before generously saying that he wanted to wait until the illusionist was accepted – that way they could celebrate together, and that way he could help Byakuya learn what to do to earn trust better; pack members weren't allowed to sway things in their favour without explicit permission with regards to adding pack members to the family, however if Kohaku wasn't formally marked as pack yet...

Well, Kagome had glomped the boy at that and whispered to him that she owed him big time. Now she _knew_ that it wouldn't be long before their pack had _two_ new members.

Besides thoroughly liking Byakuya as an absurd mixture of younger brother and older brother (she would call him “cousin”, to keep the confusion down, even though that was just encouraging him in his behaviour towards her), she _knew_ that Sesshōmaru needed another yōkai to be family. She knew it was still a bit disconcerting for him to be surrounded by so many family members that were born ningen – even though for the most part, their inability to die had thoroughly changed them from being ningen any longer, and their outlooks were thoroughly different to that of most ningen, they still weren't _yōkai_ ; and Sess needed more humanoid yōkai in his life; and at _least_ one of those yōkai needed to be _pack_. Especially because the larger his pack became, the more solitude he would have, as friendships were made and people stopped gravitating around him for no other reason than having no one else to gravitate to but their alpha.

Sesshōmaru _did_ love his pack; but it would have been easier on him to have it grow slowly over several years, rather than in a matter of months, although Kagome was certain that Sesshōmaru didn't realise that yet, and might never. Sometimes their “alone time” was _exactly_ that – time spent just being with each other in silence and solitude; even going so far as to spend it apart from each other when one (or both) of them was particularly overwhelmed. Well, mostly Sess; they had measures in place for when Kagome was feeling overwhelmed. Utterly _delightful_ measures.

Maybe it was time to begin seeking out some of her soul-friends whom she had had _dreams_ about; after all, only _one_ of them had been ningen – the rest had been thoroughly and unashamedly yōkai. Especially since Ayame had been one of those – she was the granddaughter of the Lord of the Northern ōkami tribes, and so knew some of the hardship that came with being royal; even though it was less formal than what Sesshōmaru was used to.

Not to add to their pack, necessarily; but to give Sesshōmaru the chance for meeting more yōkai who weren't of his courts or servants, and to give him time to appreciate the pack he had as being “less” company than he would become used to what with all the _many_ people that Kagome knew.

Yeah, she'd definitely do that – most of the rest of the shards were beyond the borders of the West by now, anyhow, and she hadn't visited her friends in ages. They would go to Edo first, partly because it was still within Sess' lands, then work their way around, following the shards and running into her friends as they did so.

That would certainly help.

\- - -

**A/N:** Meet new sides of Kagome. Sneaky, sly, and ever so slightly manipulative. Not to any huge extent, not enough to make her somebody else, but just to the extent that many people become as they grow up; especially people surrounded by a yōkai kind of outlook in the ways Kagome is due to her _dream_ -family/friends.

Also before anyone yaps at me because they are siblings, no, I am not planning on Rin and Shippō being a couple. That doesn't mean it will not happen at some point for a time (I'm not intending on it but my characters do not always obey me or cooperate), but I am absolutely positive that if it does it will not be a permanent thing like a mating; Rin is thoroughly incapable of romance with _anyone_ , unlike Kohaku who is just incapable of romance with anyone who hasn't shared some similar experiences with him. Shippō's eventual mate will not be his sister, and Rin will never be romantically coupled with _anyone_ in this story, full stop.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Part one. Sorry for not updating the past two days, didn't have my laptop. I'm back now though!

**Part two:** Doing this before the chapter instead of after it because some people are like me and despise when people make Kōga miraculously fall for Ayame. It's clarified early on, but I'm saying it here, Kōga is _honouring his promise_ , not suddenly fallen in love with Ayame. Hopefully I handled this okay. Hopefully it doesn't drive anybody off; there _is_ the possibility for romance there, but it doesn't exist yet. Idrk if it ever will, we'll just have to see. Who even knows if we'll see them again once the pack leaves, or even if there will be any distinct interaction between the groups; _I_ sure as hell don't, haha.

Also, new character was _totally_ unexpected, although thinking back, he really shouldn't have been. My muse is bloody well  amazing, planning this out for so long and keeping me wholly fucking unaware of her plan! (Although I bet I will be the only person surprised by his appearance. There was tons of foreshadowing, I just didn't realise that that was what it was. XD)

\- - -

Kagome had spent the entire fucking last half-hour going around to every last person at this party and explaining to them that the burst of immense yōki that would be coming in a short amount of time was _not_ from a threat, and that she and her mate would be gone for the next two days and three nights.

Granted, it had only taken that stupidly long because the gathering was so _damn_ big. It was worth it, though. Kōga had officially begun to Court Ayame! Ayame had been slightly incensed that she'd found out about Kagome's mating through _Kōga_ of all people, who had spurned the redhead for Kagome, after all; but when Kagome explained things, she understood, cried happily for her, and then told her The News.

Kōga had come to see her a moon after finding out about the mating, told Ayame very honestly that he still had feelings for Kagome; but that she had mated and he needed to let them go – and then _apologised_ to Ayame for dishonouring his promise to her in such a way, and asked if she would wait for him to move on before he tried to get to know her better.

He wasn't foolish enough to promise that he would fall in love with her, but he had promised that he would uphold his words from all those years ago, and would at the least try to be good friends with her. Ayame had told her that the celebration of his officially beginning to Court her was within a sennight and would she and her pack please, _please_ stay for the celebration?

After conferring with Sesshōmaru and the others, it had been agreed – and while the socialisation with yōkai _had_ indeed been good for their little pack (which _was_ a full pack now; just two moons after joining them Kohaku and Byakuya had been marked and added in together, followed by a total _feast_ ), Sesshōmaru was a little worse for the wear. Kagome had expected that – the whole point of meeting her numerous friends was to make it so that their pack became a source of solitude and escape for Sesshōmaru, after all. But right now...

It was simply far too much.

Luckily for everyone involved, Kagome knew _just_ how to fix that.

Finally finished with all her warnings and goodbye-for-now's, Kagome strolled over to her mate, who was sitting in a cooler corner of the enormous cave that the feast was in, and kissed her way from his chin to his ear, before whispering into it, her cerulean eyes sparkling in the firelight and glowing from her own power. “ _Run_.”

Not once did she look away from his eyes, so she saw as they flashed red and immediately filled with satisfaction at her cleverness, before he picked her up and dashed along the edge of the cave and out so fast that Kagome wouldn't be surprised if not a single person there even noticed they had left. After they were gone from the caves, she directed him to the place she had chosen for the initial burst, before telling him where she had picked for their time away from their family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike. He was completely pleased with her decision – and with how she had taken charge of a situation that was spiralling out of control, just like a good mate should; proving to both him and his beast, yet again, that she was his _equal_ , for all she regularly submitted to him with complete willingness.

What happened in bed did not _have_ to correspond to what happened outside of bed, after all – and besides; submission was its own form of dominance, anyhow. The person giving their submission _always_ had the power to revoke it, in a healthy relationship that didn't have other determining factors. Even amongst moths, who always followed a strict kind of dynamic, there was always the choice to revoke, although generally submissive moths would never _ever_ do that. Kagome really had no idea what to do about the things she had learned about moths upon her demanding from Sess that they learn as much as they could about them due to having Byakuya with the pack and him having not been raised learning proper instincts. Probably, just deal with them as they came up.

_Concentrate on now, Kagome. Right._

Once they reached the empty field, he asked her how she wanted to do this, and she had him let her down, kissing him sweetly as she responded. Her choices were watch him shift or _feel_ him shift, but she had a definite preference. “I enjoyed it that time you had me on you when you transformed; but I _love_ watching you become your true self. You are so stunning. Let me watch.”

He growled, his eyes bleeding red as he bit her lower lip until it bled – using his tongue to both taste her and heal her faster than her reiki naturally would. “ _ **Mine.**_ So perfect, mate. Watch, then _ **.**_ ”

Kagome stayed standing as she watched his yōki unbind itself from the restraints he kept it under, flaring and flowing around him visibly until he was practically glowing – and then it _exploded_ and he shot up into the air, landing on the earth once more in all the glory of his true form. Intense fluff, long fur, claws and fangs quite probably larger than two of his humanoid form stacked upon one another... Her mate was terrifyingly magnificent and beautiful in his natural form. Kagome knew damn well, make no mistake, that _this_ was who Sesshōmaru truly was.

She loved him all the more for it.

The first time Kagome had realised _that_ , she came to the conclusion that she really ought to have been born a yōkai, because that was not a ningen response to knowing that the true form of your lover was an enormous, dangerous, deadly, even merciless, canine that could crush you to death as easily as stepping on a bug – especially when the first time you had seen that form, it was _trying to kill you_.

Kagome was undoubtedly _weird_.

Her lover scoffed at that and sent through her miko bond with him in this form (beast yōkai that had animal true forms could _all_ speak telepathically to miko of a certain power and training and beyond, which was convenient since that meant she could talk to him like this very easily despite not yet having a full grasp of the inu language yet) that hadn't he been _telling_ her for over two years now that she was more yōkai than ningen?

“ _Yeah, well, this isn't just_ _more_ _yōkai than ningen, this is_ _ **completely and totally**_ _yōkai subsuming ningen instincts._ ”

“ _This Sesshōmaru cares not – whatever caused this to happen to you simply made you my perfect match, and this one is beyond grateful for it._ ”

Well, she couldn't argue with _that_ , since she felt the same way. “ _Okay, well let me up so we can go be_ _ **away**_ _from all those_ _ **people**_ _for a couple days._ ”

Sesshōmaru had been halfway down to the ground when her last words made him turn his head, blue irises widening with something she could probably consider to be hope. “ _Days_ _?_ ”

She walked forwards and beckoned him to lie down – he did, and she moved to stroke his muzzle and rub her face into the soft fur there, growling with utter contentment and love, uncaring of how dangerously close she was to those poisonous fangs of his. He would not, _could not_ , hurt her, and besides – they might not be the exact same, but it was those Fangs of his that she kept constantly at her side to protect both her and her pack with. Why on _earth_ would she be afraid of them? The very idea was completely absurd, seriously. Beyond ridiculous.

“ _I informed every single person at the celebration tonight that we will be gone for two days_ _and three nights_ _, in addition to letting them know about your yōki so they wouldn't sound an alarm – we're a ways away but I think sometimes you forget how much more impressive you have grown over the past two years, dearest. You are at_ _ **least**_ _half as big as you were when we first met – if not larger than that. This Kagome suspects that the only reason her Sesshōmaru is not larger is because he contains his yōki regularly, whereas his father did not. This Kagome believes that her Sesshōmaru has surpassed the Inu no Taishō in every way possible – despite his_ _true_ _form still not being so immense._ ”

Kagome could feel the shock of happiness, pleasure, dizzying delight, and wonder radiating through his bond, with her and pressed soft kisses to his muzzle until he was done taking in her words and responded to her, “ _Kagome... I... This Sesshōmaru does not know how to thank his Kagome for such immense love, trust, and praise..._ ”

“ _Don't worry about expressing your gratitude, my_ _koishi_ _. I did not say that to be thanked for it, I said it because I believe it to be the truth._ _Now, come_ _on_ _, let_ _'_ _s-_ ”

Suddenly a familiar – and shocked – voice interrupted them, and before her mate even had a chance to do _anything_ , Kagome shot at him to leave this to her, turned around, and _glared_ at the intruder, even as he spoke. “ Sesshōmaru?”

“Go. The fuck. Away. I do not know – or care, frankly – _how_ you came to be back, but you are going to do three things right now before I purify bits and pieces of you off, _repeatedly_ , over _weeks_ – that would be sennights, just in case you didn't know.”

Alpha Bitch was out in full force, her reiki and miko-ki were _billowing_ out around her in all their glory in her aggravation (and, admittedly, in an attempt to intimidate), and apparently even the Inu no Taishō was intimidated by Kagome in full Alpha mode. It probably also had something to do with her wholly comfortable stance and posture, despite being stood next to what most ningen would consider a monster. “...Right. Understood.”

She smiled sweetly at his response and pulled in her ki – she so loved it when people knew which way the wind blew – then gave him his orders. “First off, you are going to go see Bokusenō-sama, and tell him that Kagome of the Shikon politely requests that he show you _everything_ that she gave him to show –  especially the end, and that the volume on the muffled part of the end is to be _turned up_ so you can hear it clearly. Because you have **no idea** how hard it is not to follow through on my threat  just because of what your thoughtless actions did to my mate. Secondly, you are going to go to or summon, whichever, I don't care, _all_ of your retainers, and order them to show the Lord of the West the respect he deserves.

“Even if they don't resist – but _especially_ if they _do_ resist – send them to Bokusenō-sama; he knows what to do. Thirdly, you are going to go to your _youngest_ , and do as you see fit based upon his actions, which will be shown to you by Bokusenō-sama. Unless you are completely convinced that you can offer an apology that will be acceptable _to me_ , I need at _least_ a sennight away from you to come to grips with the fact that, despite your presence back on the physical plane, I cannot reasonably follow my instincts and punish you ruthlessly and thoroughly. Is that understood, Toga-san?”

Sesshōmaru was practically howling with laughter in her mind at how nonplussed and damn near frightened his father looked at how easily she ordered him around, and decided to be nice to his old man – he was nowhere near as upset with his father as his mate was, after all, and loved the older daiyōkai dearly, despite their emotional distance as he grew up; not to mention that Sesshōmaru respected him deeply, in spite of him dishonouring his blood to take another temporary (because she was ningen, she would not have lived much too long, even given her pregnancy) mate while Satori was still alive and had not given him permission to do so. If the old man had just _asked_ , a lot of unpleasantness could have been avoided. So he barked a short comment to the Inu no Taishō that his Kagome refused to be cowed or intimidated by anything – after all, he had tried to kill her more than once, as soon as they met, and look where they were now?

That got the older daiyōkai thinking and he nodded, bowing lightly before them. “I suppose you will be able to contact me when you are ready – or vice versa, possibly – and I shall go seek out Bokusenō right now. Goodbye for now!”

Then he waved, rather cheerfully for someone who had been so abruptly dismissed, and ran off, pausing when Kagome called out, showing her pure heart that could not be repressed even when she was angry with someone, “Oh, Toga-san! Keep your yōki _restrained_! Otherwise you will be alternately frightening and slaughtering yōkai left and right, which would be a pain. It has been a while since you died – in these times it is better to be seen as less powerful so as to be underestimated; not just for you but for those you care about. Bye!”

The Inu no Taishō raised an eyebrow at that, but did as she said, pulling his considerable yōki – which did, indeed, seem to now be at or just beneath the level of Sesshōmaru's own – into himself and hiding his presence as he dashed off in the direction where Bokusenō resided. No doubt he would use his light orb to actually get there so as to cut the time he had to wait by a significant amount. Kagome took that moment to sag against her mate and whine in frustration.

He chuckled into her mind and rubbed his muzzle against her body, a pleased growl rumbling through his form, “ _You did marvellously, precious mate of mine. You showed him that he could not intimidate you, that you would not be taken in by his charming demeanour, and that you are alpha bitch – in fact, an alpha that can easily surpass this Sesshōmaru's Lady Mother, if it ever comes to that. She never went against father very frequently or anywhere near as intensely. We have a_ _sennight_ _– at_ _ **least**_ _– to decide what to do about him,_ _unless he finds a suitable apology;_ _for now let us stick with your plans and go spend some time in solitude with each other._ ”

She sighed and nodded, walking along his body and burying herself in his long fur for a few moments, just letting his warmth and his yōki relax and caress her. Then she clambered up his foreleg and jumped up onto his back – it would have been entirely impossible without her reiki enhanced body. The fur of his ruff was even thicker, softer, and more luxurious than the fur on his body was, and she practically buried herself in it, holding on to him tightly, fistfuls of his fur in her hands as she finally spoke to him again, “ _Make me forget about this, Maru. Please. I don't want to think about him again until it's time to go back._ _It's_ _at least half_ _his fault for your tears and he makes me so_ _ **angry**_ _because of it._ ”

He rumbled and nodded as he stood up, and soon a barrier was up in her mind – Kagome would have felt guilty for being the only one to get this sort of protection, but she knew very well that despite being the one affected the most by his father's actions, Sesshōmaru was still inordinately fond of the Dog General. She would probably learn why sooner than she liked, but hopefully that wouldn't be until _after_ he apologised appropriately for fucking up so damned badly with his eldest son.

But for now, he was blocked from her thoughts, and they ran towards the secluded paradise she had picked for their break from all the utter chaos that was inevitable when around ōkami – a time of rest, relaxation, and pleasure.

\- - -

Toga, the Dog General of the west, the Inu no Taishō, was _incredibly_ glad that he had followed his old friend's advice and been sitting down as he assimilated the _loads_ of memories that assaulted him the moment he placed a palm on the bark. Even seated he was almost bowled backwards from the sheer force of power behind the energy – Bokusenō informed him that it was reacting specifically to his presence, how _interesting_ , and Toga was beyond not amused at his old friend's musings, so he just turned to the images now residing in his head.

There was far too much to pick through just yet: the thing that he _really_ wanted to look at was that last memory, which his eldest son's adorable, beautiful, and, frankly, more than just a little bit frightening (standing completely comfortably next to someone who could kill her without a single coherent thought and simultaneously  threatening to _purify_ **the** Inu no Taishō, Kami that woman was intimidating as _fuck_ ) not to mention _extremely_ powerful (not even _Midoriko_ had had so much damn reiryoku – although to be fair, that girl did _not_ have reiryoku  at all, it was obvious why she was “Kagome of the Shikon,” but still, her power was immense, not just for a ningen but _at all_ ), mate had insinuated to be the most important memory.

He'd recognised her, too, although just barely. The last time he saw her properly she'd been hiding behind his youngest boy – so something had _definitely_ changed there. Hugely, at that. And it wasn't just that she'd grown up and become a warrior now – it wasn't just that she looked different and _radiated_ power.

It was something that felt intangible, but was actually hinting towards this girl finally growing _into_ something far different than what (yes, _what_ ) she had been when she met him the first time.

Toga desperately wanted to know how that had changed in just a short couple of years or so. Yes, ningen grew and changed quickly – but this was _beyond_ unnatural.

Turning his attention inwards, he plucked the final memory up and listened to it... and almost _broke,_ _Kami_. Sesshōmaru; his proud, arrogant, powerful Sesshōmaru – that boy should _never_ sound like that. And his mate was right, the only possible reason for his son to be able to believe such a thing was the fact that Sesshōmaru had been so very like his mother as a child that he pulled away before the boy could pull away himself, despite knowing that Satori wouldn't ever show the boy the affection a child needed when growing up. What a damn _fool_ he had been.

The strangest thing, though, had been that the woman was _so_ in tune with her mate's emotions that there was no way her knowledge of Sesshōmaru's childhood was just in passing; but Sesshōmaru would _never_ open up like that to **anyone** , beloved mate or no – so he asked Bokusenō; who knew _far_ more than he ever let on to anyone, for the most part. Toga was an anomaly in that he'd known the magnolia yōkai for well over a millennia, and his father before him had known him for the millennia since Bokusenō became a yōkai. “How was she able to respond like that?”

No beating around the bush there – Bokusenō knew what he was talking about; just as he had known which memory Toga would watch first. “Your daughter-in-law has what she calls _dreams_ , emphasis intended. Basically they are either precognitive visions or memories from the lives of others. The night they mated, Kagome was inundated with the memories of a young Sesshōmaru – and possibly those of him as he continued growing up, over the next few days, although this Bokusenō cannot say for certain; I only know for a fact about the first night. And I only know that because the land accepted her as its Lady, so her dream was projected to me. Of course, I already knew about it from your point of view – and how things _truly_ happened with Satori pushing you away later in his life – but the immediate effect your pulling back when he was much younger had on your son was... Enlightening.”

Toga sighed and buried his face in his hands, growling aggravatedly at his _own damn stupidity_ , before Bokusenō rumbled a counterpoint, causing the daiyōkai to look up and snap out, “What?!”

“It is good to feel guilt and to regret your actions – an honest, genuine apology will earn you more forgiveness you can imagine, from that woman. But do not forget that all things happen for a reason – if you did not do as you did, it is very likely your eldest would never have had such strict standards that only someone as extraordinary as the Shikon Miko from the future could capture his attention... Without your distance, they would not have found each other; or, if they did, it is likely that Sesshōmaru would have been mated already, and utterly miserable at finding his soul-mate to be someone he could not honourably have as his own.”

Well, he had to admit, that _was_ some consolation; but it still did not excuse his actions – or give him an idea as to how he could _possibly_ make up for them. Especially because death was _enlightening_ and he was well aware that if he'd raised the boy differently, he would _not_ have been the Shikon Miko's soul-mate, full stop. The Kami weren't cruel, as a general rule. Not to people integral in their plans who would already be going through intense suffering due to their parts in the plans. Bokusenō interrupted his thoughts, “I suggest you look through the rest of the memories, from start to finish – it will take quite some time. Any retainers who show up here will only be given a small selection of the worst from Inuyasha's part and the best from Sesshōmaru's part.”

He nodded, and at the mention of _retainers_ , he flared his yōki twice, four times in a row. That was his signal for his retainers to find where the aura had flowed with the _utmost_ immediacy, and to obey any instructions – explained or implied, and his demands _would_ be understood, incredibly clearly – left for them. They would be shown to the grove and Bokusenō would take care of them, thus giving Toga more time to make things up to his son and his son's mate. Yes, he was  shamelessly cheating and bending what he had been told to do. No, he didn't _care_. Making things up to his son was more important than his honour right now. Honour was important, but it wasn't _life._ Not to him.

Then he slipped back into his own mind – and, simultaneously, both his son's mate's mind, and Bokusenō's mind – seeking out _the start_ , and allowing the memories to take him away.

It had been somewhat of a surprise when the memories centred around other people – before Toga realised exactly what his daughter-in-law – Kagome? Yes, Kagome – was doing. She wasn't just showing how Inuyasha treated _her_ , the person he had promised to protect (and what kind of a fool had his youngest grown up to be that he couldn't see that a promise like that meant protection in _every_ way; not just from physical hurts?!) but she was also showing how he treated other people in comparison. What an intelligent and clever young woman; she had designed this _masterfully_.

By the time he was done with his youngest, that boy would be wishing he had _never been born_. It wouldn't have been as bad if he just had no idea how to interact with others; he  did. But for some reason – Toga suspected for a moment that it was because the girl had, at the time they first met, looked like someone he had an unpleasant past with, but he ignored that suspicion because _surely_ _**not**_ – he was treating _this girl_ like dirt. Whilst he was gruff and rude towards everyone else, the only other person in their group – or even amongst non-violent strangers – that got any level of abuse was the kit that she had taken for her own.

And yet, despite that, she had wholly and unfailingly loved him, trusted him, and believed in him – and _believed_ him; which was even worse. From what Toga gathered, people in her era aged more slowly – a woman of fifteen would not be so impressionable in this day and age. Still, she grew, and still loved, living through his blatant disregard of anything concerning her when that undead thing masquerading as his old love was around...

And then she, finally, _finally_ , had enough. Toga was so thankful and triumphant when she came to that decision, and vowed to thank the monk-brother of hers that had helped her do so. He was even more thankful when, after a mere moon, she had thoroughly and truly fallen out of love with his youngest son, leading her (and Toga himself) to believe that maybe her love hadn't been very deep or consuming, like she'd thought it to be in the beginning.

Then came the _really_ interesting part – her relationship with his eldest, and he was going to _devour_ this. Unlike what happened with Inuyasha, this relationship developed slowly over a long period of time, and was based on  very different things. Warrior to warrior (never mind that one of them was experienced and the other was entirely self-taught), rather than protector to protected. Scholar to scholar, instead of intelligent young woman to uneducated whelp (not that that was Inuyasha's fault, but _still_ ). Teacher and student flowing back and forth from one to the other, compared to constant fights and never backing down when one thought (or knew) the other was in the wrong. Heavy attraction that was based just as much on the other's mind and respect for them as a person as it was on physical appearance, instead of misguided physical attraction and an honest dislike of a large amount of the other person's mental qualities...

Kagome and Sesshōmaru were true equals, and most _definitely_ soul-mates. Yes, Bokusenō had said as much, and Toga himself had thought so before he even saw anything more than her figure standing next to his son with such _ease_ and  acceptance. But it was totally confirmed now. They just _fit_ in a way that Toga was somewhat jealous of – as much as he had utterly loved Izayoi... They had never been equals, and she had always been a little afraid when he showed exactly how inhuman he was. Kagome, on the other hand, revelled in those things; as was made clear with how happily and comfortably she had been standing next to Sesshōmaru in his true form, perilously close to his dangerous, deadly fangs.

And really; aside from the “I want to kill you, why on _earth_ _won't you_ _ **die?!**_ ” bit at the beginning of their relationship (something that he gathered from these memories that was fairly common; Kagome apparently made friends—and suitors—from enemies with an alarming speed. It was quite hilarious, really – even their greatest enemy, Naraku, had lusted after her and wanted her by his side), his eldest had _never_ treated her disrespectfully – dismissing her from his attention really didn't count. Yes, there had been that “ What are you?” but Toga could understand that – _no_ ningen could have stood up to that copious amount of poison; except that Kagome had been protected by Tessaiga—which was very weird because the sword shouldn't have been active then. Hmm... Maybe there was something else at work here; he would ask Bokusenō.

Anyhow, the whole situation was highly ironic, considering that that incident had probably laid the base down for his interest to bloom later on.

It was _incredibly_ fitting that the thing that _cemented_ Sesshōmaru's interest in Kagome had happened in the aftermath of a particularly vicious battle; or rather thing _s_ , plural, because, despite his distance, he knew his son well. They were very alike, when it came to certain things, after all.

First off had been the fact that she was relieved instead of despondent, although that was definitely something subconscious he most likely hadn't been aware about until _later_ , that just kept his eyes on her. Second, knowing what herbs to use on yōkai; highly unusual for ningen. Toga knew nekomata though, and _recognised_ that one. Kirara would have educated Kagome, even though they couldn't talk yet, as she grew into her power, having done the same thing for the late Midoriko. Third, asking about negative reactions to said herbs – highly uncommon in this day and age. Fourth, not noticing her own wound. And finally – her utter  eagerness for him to do something that was, for one, _unbelievably_ painful; for two, would, in the eyes of ningen and even most yōkai, disfigure her; and for three, could _easily_ cause her death if he wished. Her trust in him (or maybe his strong sense of honour – it ruled his life in a way it never had Toga's), despite them only being tenuous allies – and the fact that she had been _completely silent_ throughout the cauterisation – was completely and utterly  astounding.

No wonder they were soul-bound.

And _then_... **Then**.. There was the  dojo incident that infuriated Toga so badly that he had to leave Bokusenō's grove and destroy a good thirty trees with his fists and claws alone. Not even the young male taijiya's suggestion that the whelp was trying to make her hurt less was any help – yes, she was likely completely infuriated by now, but there was _absolutely no need_ for him to do that, and he  had to have known that. Kagome was obviously not the type of person to hold genuine pain against someone, and she clearly would have been more than fine with Inuyasha just leaving on his own.

That boy had been trying to hurt her for revenge just as much to make her mad at him, and that was not only _completely_ dishonourable, but beyond inexcusable.

By the time he finished, he was sitting back down in front of Bokusenō – who clearly knew what had made the great Inu no Taishō lose his composure so badly – and finishing the rest of the memories.

Oh, yes, she was furious – especially when she allowed a former suitor to beat up his youngest for her – with only asking him not to incapacitate him too badly. Considering that the boy was obviously a prince of one of the ōkami tribes, he would definitely be more powerful than Inuyasha – Toga's fierce blood or not, Inuyasha's mother had no power to her, and significantly weakened him; which was why he had left him the Tessaiga to control the raging yōkai within. Well, that and because Sesshōmaru would just be weakened by relying on the blade. He was too strong to need that particular Fang when he could slay a hundred yōkai within minutes just using his whip, easily. He'd clearly known that or his attempts at gaining the Tessaiga would not have been so half-assed, either. He could _easily_ kill his brother if he tried hard enough, so he hadn't really cared about gaining the sword as much as he'd pretended he did. It was far more likely that he used it as an excuse to quench his curiosity (he got that from Toga, and had been insatiably curious even as a child; once he latched onto something he would _not_ let go until his curiosity was sated) about the Shikon Miko.

The memories ended with what appeared to be that very night, and it was midday who knew how many days later by the time he pulled himself away, flopping back onto the ground in an undignified manner – his right leg bent at the knee and his left crossed over it, swinging idly. “ _Now_ , how do I go about punishing the young whelp without deepening his resentment or making him more stubbornly stick to his idea that he is not in the wrong; they are? As well, I need to apologise both to my eldest and his mate – and find something to do for or give to them to cement that apology....”

Bokusenō was silent in response to this – only Toga could figure this out, as Inuyasha was his blood. In the end, all it took was a memory of his beloved Izayoi – and how horrified she would have been at her son's actions – to decide upon the right course of action.

“Ah! I will offer my education to my youngest as penance; and it _will_ be penance, rather than just pleasure or payment that Kagome requires of me, because I don't think I'll be beating lessons into the pup just yet, Bokusenō. Instead I will be _giving_ him lessons. The first one being coming face to face with someone who _knew_ his mother, and can point out exactly how she would have reacted to him treating _anyone_ so deplorably; especially an ally and someone he supposedly cared for. Then he will be learning all the yōkai things that he never had the chance to learn; beginning firstmost with how we treat those below us, how we protect those we promise to protect, how we treat _women_...”

The old magnolia yōkai chuckled at that, humming in agreement, “Aye, teach him with words not only how wrongly he treated her but how it goes against the very thing he has always craved being.”

Toga grinned mirthlessly, “Exactly. Hey, I have a question for you. That poison incident – Tessaiga shouldn't have been active yet, without a proper wielder... Obviously Sesshōmaru was aware of that; it was the curiosity of why she did not die grabbing hold of him that kept him attacking them.”

Bokusenō grinned at him with a wink, “Kagome is the one from the prophecy – immortal and timeless. She never once had to worry about her life in this era, although she knew it not until a quite a few moons ago. Your eldest son and his pack will outlive everyone until it is time for them to return to the Kami themselves, this Bokusenō made certain of it.”

That pleased him inordinately, although he wondered if they'd been _asked_ if they wanted that particular spell, Kagome seemed the type to er… React badly to things being forced upon her. Oh well, what was done was done, so he chuckled, standing up and stretching, “Well, thank you kindly – I'd stay longer and catch up more, old friend but I've a job to do – the Kami didn't speed up my regeneration for nothing, after all. They told me I had a son to help – thankfully I very mistakenly assumed it to be the elder one since Inuyasha had the girl with him when I saw him last, otherwise I might have believed some of whatever sort of filth Inuyasha would have tried to poison my mind with before I found out the truth of things.”

“Just a warning – he is travelling with a female taijiya; the heart-sister of Kagome. They get along relatively well despite their history; and she would not have allowed you to be infected. She is travelling with the hanyō out of a residual fondness, as well as a promise to help try to keep him out of too much trouble, given to Kagome. He is currently helping her rebuild the taijiya village she was born in; it is likely he will become its protector once he finishes growing up.”

“Hm.. that reminds me – how old is he, really? It is obvious that he is not as mature as he ought to be – am I right in assuming that his time being pinned to the tree is the cause of that?”

Bokusenō shook his branches with a displeased rumble, “Yes; the miko Kikyō had him pinned there fifty years before Kagome dispelled the sealing arrow – they were both the equivalent of fifteen when they met for the first time; as you can see, Kagome grew up... and he didn't. This Bokusenō understands regular hanyō ageing, but is it not true that in times of duress, such as being in the midst of a war, all beings age far quicker than usual?”

Toga nodded, “Kagome and Sesshōmaru show that _enormously_. And the whelp did – in many ways. Just not this one, and that will be changing. I'll not have my daughter waiting for numerous decades to be able to actually have my youngest as the younger brother she thinks of him as. Despite her – completely reasonable – wish to purify me in a most painful manner, she is wonderful and I could not wish for a better mate for my eldest; it is clear that she did for him what no one else could do. I doubt that he would have formally adopted his ward as his daughter without her influence.”

“That is most likely true. I look forward to your next visit, old friend – good luck taming your youngest; and apologising to the very angry and very powerful Shikon Miko.”

He laughed at that, “Hah! Taming, my ass! But maybe I can train some manners into him – and administer a few beatings in the name of teaching him how to actually _use_ a sword instead of simply swinging wildly. I do believe my daughter could easily beat his ass, not just hand-to-hand but even with her little kodachi. And yes; the apology will be the _first_ thing I do – they both deserve it, no mate should have to _guide_ her male into crying tears that desperately need to be released. I was such a fool. By the by, those retainers will be dribbling in starting tomorrow; good luck with them – Kagome ordered that they be required to give their fealty to their true Lord, thus, this Toga requests that they be ordered on his behalf to begin coming to Sesshōmaru in a fortnight and giving him offers of service and loyalty like he _deserves_.”

With that, still not caring that he was shamelessly cheating with dealing with those below him, he left, intent on doing his duty – and this time, it was with a vengeful glee, rather than being reluctant as it had been when he assumed Sesshōmaru was the one needing his aid.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** **This chapter has two lemons; _however_ before – and between – the sexual content is some _important worldbuilding and/or plot-related stuff._** The lemons are going to be fairly obvious, there is limey content sprinkled before the first lemon—fairly non-descriptive, and although the beginning seems like a lemon, it skips the sex. Also for those of you who don't mind lemons but don't like the S&M to it, the second one has none of that. It's lovemaking, pure and simple.

For anyone who cares: I don't intend for there to be all that much sexual content in the story entire, but I'm not going to shy away from it if the characters demand it, and they are demanding it now. Partly because it's plot-related-ish. Also; no, I do _not_ make partitions to keep sexual content in, most of the time it just comes when it does and ends when it does and that's that. That's just how I write. The last one starts after a partition but ends _far_ before the end of the chapter. **This is the last time I will warn about any sexual content in this fic. From now on expect that it won't be frequent, but it'll happen sometimes, and often be pretty obvious when it's starting.**

\- - -

Kagome groaned softly and burrowed into the fur beneath her, the soft ruff adorning her mate's neck completely encasing her nude form. He rumbled gently at her and she shook her head. “Owanna; the ōkami are so rowdy, I miss just our pack.”

“ _Then let us go gather up our pack, say our goodbyes, and continue on our travels. I admit; the time alone has been perfect for what I needed but I dearly miss our children_ _and_ _brothers._ ”

Her plan was working so far, then – Sesshōmaru was beginning to accept his pack more closely as family and instead of wishing for solitude _away_ from them, as he had just barely been beginning to do, was finding solitude _with_ them. Kagome admitted, however, that the ōkami had been a bit _much_. Not that she had intended for that – she'd genuinely forgotten how bad they were.

Sighing, she snuggled further into the ruff around his neck and moaned a bit; he was so _soft_. Seriously, it was sinful how amazing his fur felt against her skin. He must have caught that thought because soon he was transforming back, arms around her and laying her out on mokomoko-sama with a wicked grin, “We still have some more time... let us make good use of it.”

Smiling, Kagome wriggled around on the delightful pelt and opened her arms to welcome him, more than willing to get lost in pleasure again.

\- - -

Kagome yawned as she snuggled into her mate's back yet again; they were on their way back to the ōkami tribes – it was mid-morning now (okay, so they had lost track of time... Who could blame them – unlike a normal couple they weren't able to get alone time with each other very frequently!) and they didn't want the alarm to sound. It _was_ fun though, to watch the sentries stare at Sess while she sat up and waved at them, before leaping down off of his back and watching him re-assuming humanoid form. He picked her up, making her squeak and giggle, though she knew why he was insisting on carrying her for this. Despite the fact that they were waiting for a while to have children, she had started her fertile cycle right last night – and also still smelled heavily of lust and sex due to their earlier activities.

Sesshō might have been wonderfully in control, but there _was_ such a thing as too much and she knew some random ōkami males coming up to her and being invasive would be just that. It didn't matter that her clothes dampened the scent of her lust, pleasure, and fertility – ōkami had stronger noses than even inu had.

Luckily they got out without any trouble; though there had been a couple close calls before Ayame intervened from a distance.

Men, seriously – it wasn't as if her mate's scent wasn't _completely covering her_ , jeez. At least interested women had more sense than to head towards someone obviously covered in a mate's scent, no matter how attracted they were to them – and, surprisingly enough, there were _plenty_ of interested women around; apparently the ōkami tribes were very open to alternate lifestyles.

When she remarked about that to Sesshō he nuzzled her forehead and said that most yōkai were much more open to that sort of thing – really, even if you were in a high position in your family so long as you gave them an heir and a spare, you weren't required to stick with conventional relationships. Lots of people entered into breeding contracts if they weren't interested in the opposite sex; or had a lover their family didn't want in the bloodline. For instance mixed breed children often were more unstable – a hanyō would be _far_ more stable than, say, a feline type yōkai mating with a canine type yōkai; the strongest bloodline would breed true but felines had different kinds of strengths, so you never knew whether the child would be feline or canine.

And because the child would not usually have visible signs such as a tail or ears that could give away their species, it would be _far_ more difficult to raise them correctly; especially if they had both sets of instincts. It could definitely be done, and Sesshōmaru had seen it done _beautifully_ , even, but it took a child with a strong will and parents (or _a_ parent – _or_ a big brother; with permission, Sesshōmaru was teaching Byakuya how to interpret his instincts both as a moth would and as an inu would – leaning towards inu most importantly, because Byakuya was  created and could handle it) with lots of patience to make it happen.

That was partly why hanyō were treated so degradingly – it was often unavoidable for them to be somewhat at war with themselves, having both sets of instincts until one or the other won out. Sesshōmaru knew plenty who didn't, employed many of them, but all the more well-known hanyō were constantly at war with themselves. Both ningen _and_ yōkai detested such weakness, although Sesshōmaru informed her that due to their... interesting... physical states, and the fact that she already had naturally gravitated towards inu instincts, their own pups would not suffer such a fate.

Kagome _adored_ how willing her mate was to explain these things to her; and adored that she wouldn't have to worry about her children now. Despite being told that her children wouldn't be physically and mentally unstable like Inuyasha was due to her blood being powerful, she had still worried about their instinctual selves.

And, back to the present; they were finally nearing Ayame and their pack.

Soon she was hugging the ōkami princess and saying a teary goodbye, her family all thanking her for her hospitality as they finally, _finally_ left. Roku seemed to catch her feelings, as once they were out of hearing range, he prodded at her with his hōriki, knowing better than to touch her while Sesshōmaru was so possessively holding onto her. No doubt he was aware of exactly why her mate was holding onto her so tightly – there were still ōkami around scouting, after all, and _whenever_ Kagome was in her fertile cycle they stayed away from any possible place of residence, hunted for enough food for the pack for four days, and then took off to be alone.

At least the pack was large enough now that, although their alphas were missed, they still had plenty of people to snuggle with. Sesshōmaru kept mokomoko-sama with the pack so that it wasn't as hard to deal with not having their family around, but the daiyōkai had gotten a gleam the last time he mentioned that that gave Roku some ideas that his dearest brother had a _plan_.

Roku was definitely looking forward to _that_. “Yes, Roku?”

He pulled from his thoughts with a smile at her, “Relieved to be back to just the pack, sister?”

She sighed and nuzzled into mokomoko-sama with a nod and a soft, “Yes,” squirming ever so lightly against her mate – a sure sign, to the two other ( _very male_ ) adults in her group that their brother (Byakuya might be Kagome's “cousin,” since she couldn't decide whether he was more like an older brother or a younger brother, but he was definitely Sesshōmaru's “brother,” no doubt about it) was likely the only thing that had gotten them out of the ōkami caves today instead of waiting until their pack-sister's fertility period was over.

Mamoru chuckled into the back of his mind and commented, “ _Indeed; Kagome was quite reluctant to leave – usually she takes better care of remembering when her fertile cycle is, but she forgot this time around. Even now, the poor woman is in heat and desperate to get away – her mate is the only thing keeping her sane. I do believe your query, all those moons ago, about the power she holds making her different than ningen has quite a bit of merit – certainly Kagome could not be called a normal ningen now. It is my belief that she is changing into something neither_ _ningen_ _nor_ _yōkai_ _– something in between,_ _almost like a hanyō_ _; stronger, faster, less vulnerable than a ningen is, but more soft-hearted than your average yōkai._ _Not to mention her_ _wielding reiki and miko-ki as she calls it, instead of yōki_ _or rei_ _r_ _yoku_ _._ ”

Roku nodded, then stared at the calculating look that his brother was giving his mate and his mokomoko-sama. “ _Hey, Mamoru... Any idea what's up with that look he keeps giving Kagome and mokomoko-_ _sama_ _?_ ”

The nekomata snickered and simply said, “ _Mokomoko-_ _sama_ _is a parasite – and does not need yōki to work or be used,_ _just any ki at all_ _. I suspect our esteemed_ _a_ _lpha has found out from his own_ _some of the ways in which_ _they reproduce and is intending on gifting his mate with one... I'll not go into any other details, however – they would be very likely unwelcome to any who are not yōkai; plus, are private._ ”

“ _Let me guess – Kagome is yōkai enough that whatever_ _disturbing_ _details are involved, she will accept them easily?_ ”

Mamoru _smirked_ into his mind, turning his head back to shoot him a grin, “ _Of course, dearest monk_. _Although, they actually aren't_ _ **that**_ _weird or disturbing, just very odd to think about_ _the mechanics of how it works_ _._ ”

Roku sighed and shook his head when Kohaku asked him if he was okay, and he murmured to the younger male, “Just thinking that our sister is _weird_. You'll understand when you're older.”

Kohaku shook his head and scoffed, “I know _that_ much already. Kagome-ne should have been born yōkai rather than ningen.”

That.... Actually, that summed things up so absolutely _perfectly_ that Miroku, Byakuya (who was flying next to them beside Mamoru – _all_ of them, including the children, were travelling far behind their alphas by now, in deference to their current states of mind), and Mamoru all cracked up – even Kohaku grinned wryly.

Although really; being who she was, it was actually good that Kagome wasn't a yōkai. Her enormous heart wouldn't be appreciated as much if she wasn't born a ningen.

Kagome, meanwhile, was drowsing in and out, clutching at her lover and mokomoko-sama – the latter of which was just being _cruel_ to her, caressing and teasing her through and beneath her clothes and pleasuring her in ways that Sesshōmaru wasn't able to right now. She needed it, though. Just as they were getting ready to leave the ōkami cave the heat that came with her two most fertile periods – just at the beginning of winter and just at the beginning of spring (It was mid-March right now), gripped her so strongly that she was _completely_ out of it for five whole minutes. If Sess hadn't been able to feel what was “wrong” through the bond he would have been very worried about her. She was barely able to stand it right now; she needed to be _away, alone, and mating_ right now.

It didn't matter that they probably weren't going to have pups for several decades – maybe even over a century – yet; her body still needed what it unfortunately at the moment had to be denied.

Thank _Kami_ that the moment she had felt Toga's unmistakeable presence again, he had departed – no doubt he had been intending on apologising and letting them know how he was going to make things up to them, but right now she needed to be  alone with Maru.

Honestly, she didn't care any more that it was earlier than a sennight, even if his apology wasn't suitable enough; she pretty much just wanted the whole situation over with. But it had to wait.

He might've made mistakes, but the other daiyōkai was no fool. He probably hadn't even scented her arousal and fertility; just how badly her aura was spiking would let him know to wait until her aura had calmed down, although he wouldn't know why right now. If he was willing to do that, Kagome was willing to be _nice_. Toga knew  her right now, and he knew _both_ of his sons through her memories as well, but he did not know the rest of his extended family – not how they had changed since becoming pack or since the last memory.

She would fix that. It would do them all good; especially since he was at such a huge disadvantage with her around, it was unfair of her to keep the playing field uneven. Her family needed to become his allies – and, eventually, to become his family as well – for things to be fair. Maru loved him, after all, and he'd been brought back for a _reason_ , and Kagome knew she would be forgiving him far sooner than she actually wanted, because that would make her mate _so_ happy and she wanted Maru happy no matter what it took.

With that scrambling around in her mind, and running completely on instinct that would probably simultaneously piss her off and make her proud once she was thinking logically again, Kagome contacted one of the three members of their group she could actually communicate intelligibly with right now.

“ _Mamoru? I want you to do me a favour. Toga-_ _san_ _'s been_ _brought back to life, and also been_ _poking his nose around, and he has business so I know he won't stray too far – l_ _et_ _him_ _know_ _once we leave_ _the camp we settle into_ _that_ _he is formally invited by this Kagome to stay in our camp until his_ _immediate_ _business with this Kagome and her mate is finished. Also, please tell Maru what I just told you because I can't actually talk right now._ ”

That last part was true; talking was _impossible_.

Kagome wished she had her own mokomoko-sama so she could torture Maru as much as he was torturing her.

Suddenly a thought flashed into her head, via Mamoru. “ _Your mate says, “If you want it, you shall have it,” whatever that means._ _Also, he is incredibly pleased with your decision and thanks you._ _”_

“ _Tell him thank you and please no more talking because I am_ _losing my mind_ _.”_

Mamoru chuckled a bit at that, before promptly leaving her alone. Mokomoko-sama, however, doubled its assault on her, going so far as to cover her mouth so that when she finally came from all the attention, the fur completely muffled her moan.

Kagome couldn't be mad, however – even if it wasn't fully what she needed right now, she had still _very much_ needed that.

Finally, _finally_ , they were out of the ōkami territories, in a defensible place with onsen near it, and, Sesshōmaru informed their pack so they would not worry about their alphas, with a set of very secluded and difficult to reach caves. Under his breath, so that only Kagome could hear, he informed her that those caves had space for a _created_ onsen inside of them, and after Maru left the camp he growled to her that he would _make_ her a hot spring, because whatever she wanted, he was going to give to her, and he knew that she always wanted onsen when they secluded themselves away like this.

Higurashi Kagome fell in love with Sesshōmaru all over again, at that declaration. Even more when she found out that he'd arranged for the pack to feed themselves this time – it wouldn't happen regularly, he informed her, but since she had been caught off guard, he needed to care for _her_ more than _them_ right now; after all, he knew for a fact that every member could hunt for themselves.

She, however, could not take care of her need on her own.

When they reached the cave, the first thing Sesshōmaru did was take off mokomoko-sama (He'd _kept_ it this time? What was up with  that _?_ ) and lay it onto the ground; then he laid her out onto the living fur pelt and moved away from her after kissing her deeply, telling her he would be right back – he wanted to make her onsen _before_ she distracted him too much to concentrate.

Knowing that she had _that_ much power over her mate had Kagome _incredibly_ smug. Especially because mokomoko-sama reflected her mate's emotions and it was  squirming and _rubbing_ and generally touching her in ways that made it clear her mate was barely holding himself back – and that when he returned he would be **feral**.

Oh, was Kagome looking forward to _that_. Out of everything they did intimately, nothing could match how much _better_ everything was when he was feral.

Time passed in a haze after that thought, but she didn't think it was very long before her mate was back with her, completely feral; red, bleeding eyes with blue irises that were narrowed and intent on her, jagged crimson stripes _all over his_ _gorgeous_ _,_ _perfect_ _body_ , and growling so loudly that her own body _vibrated_ , the moment he saw her. He immediately claimed her, slamming into her with a long and loud, “ _ **Mine**_.”

Thankfully he'd already put the barrier up, and within just a short few minutes, Kagome was _screaming_ out her orgasm, and then a second, and a third. He was doing this to her on purpose and she _fucking loved it_ and all she could do was growl and whine and whimper out instinctive, begging pleas for  more _more_ **more**.

He complied, flipping her over so that she was on all fours – her body at an angle after he manoeuvred it, and her head resting on her hands and on mokomoko-sama. Then he was _taking_ her and claiming her and **mating** her just how she needed. Slamming into her, digging his claws into her hips so deeply that she couldn't immediately heal like her energy _normally_ did, biting her _mark oh_ _K_ _ami that felt perfect_ , not caring that she was bleeding because she wasn't a frail ningen any more and he could fuck her how her mind was screaming out into his own for him to do.

He was fully engaged and focused on giving her exactly what she needed in her own feral state; calling her his bitch, his mate, his aite, simply his, over and over again; scraping his claws up and down her sides and back; licking and biting over her body wherever he could reach; _showing how he didn't care when he purposely pulled out of her, ran his tongue along the inside of the scar_ _t_ _he_ _y_ _made_ _together over two years ago_ _, and slammed_ _ **right**_ _back into her_.

All the while telling her she was _fucking beautiful, my gorgeous, perfect bitch, all_ _ **mine**_.

She barely even noticed that he wasn't speaking aloud either.

Kagome was gone, her voice was hoarse, and she could barely comprehend him when her deepest need was finally met and he spilled his essence into her, holding her body against him so that she could _finally_ heal over, kissing and licking at her mark, and nuzzling her neck whenever he wasn't doing _that_ , his hands and claws ever-so-gentle as he stroked over her soft, slick skin.

When Kagome's mind finally returned she was _completely enveloped_ in her mate, or at least that was what it _felt_ like, and she felt him smile against her neck and nuzzle it softly again, pushing her hair out of the way, as he spoke to her, _into her mind_.

“ _It seems, my precious, beloved, perfect mate, that our mating bond has finally completed, after_ _almost a year._ ”

“ _It feels like..._ _L_ _ike I'm_ _ **inside**_ _you, completely enveloped..._ _I_ _t feels so wonderful, like no matter what you will always be surrounding and protecting me._ ”

He growled softly and affirmatively to her, responding that, “ _It is supposed to feel th_ _a_ _t way when the mates are suited for each other. It generally takes between six moons and a year to complete, so ours was not unusual – the mind-speech is, but we are soul-bound and soul-mated; it is natural for our state._ ”

She sighed and moaned at that, cuddling back against him and baring her neck as her mind laughed out, “ _It's convenient, since I am positive my voice is completely gone now._ ”

Maru chuckled aloud at that – even _his_ voice was a little raw from all the use it had gotten – before idly commenting to her, his mind feeling both proud and smug, “ _You were completely inu, I'll have you know. You were speaking and responding to me as if you were an inu yōkai_ _bitch_ _that had gone feral. I am very pleased with this, kitten._ ”

The miko wrinkled her nose and huffed lightly, pouting, “ _You tell me I was completely inu and sound incredibly proud of me, then go around and call me kitten! That's_ _hardly_ _fair, Maru!_ ”

“ _Despite everything, you will always be my kitten, koishi – you will learn to deal with it – besides, you cannot hide from me that you actually enjoy being called that; the complaining is just from embarrassment and not knowing how to react to your pleasure._ ”

Dammit, he had her there, the arrogant, smug, Royal Asshole. Kagome had _no_ idea how to react to being called something adorable, fluffy, sweet, and feisty. A diminutive pet name that told of her curiosity and excitement, and was – despite the fact that in every way that mattered, Kagome was _entirely_ canine and vulpine – an incredibly accurate name for her. After all, unless she was in heat, she generally _mewled_ her responses to her mate.

Her mate was following her thought process – he didn't have to, she knew, but he wanted to, and was not being sly about it – and traced the shell of her ear with his tongue at the same time as he ran his hand _over_ and _into_ the scar that they had made together. “ _Just accept it, precious, beloved, wonderful, beautiful, absolutely perfect mate of mine. I love you, and you are mine – mate, beloved, bitch, kitten, lover,_ _aite_ _; eventually, wife as well. Just accept me, Kagome._ ”

Kagome _almost_ cried, but she managed to keep from spilling her tears as she nodded, wrapped her arms around his lower arm, and held him as tight as she could to her, responding back to him, “ _I accept you, Sesshōmaru, in every way possible. I can't promise to stop complaining,_ _or worrying,_ _but I will do my best to try and stop so that eventually it won't happen._ ”

Then something occurred to her and she tilted her head, curiosity taking over, “ _Why did you bring mokomoko-sama with us this time?_ ”

He chuckled into her mind, licking her ear again, “ _To give you what you want, of course._ _Did this one not tell you that if you want it you shall have it?_ _Mokomoko-sama reproduces in many ways, but the simplest course is for me to mate you on it with the intent, somewhere in my mind, for it to duplicate itself. The thought was humming in the back of my head whilst I mated you, though just barely, so by the time we leave you will have your own mokomoko-sama; they do not require yōki to exist, any kind of ki will do, and they generate their own yōki for defence and attack purposes._ _Possibly from the ki of their host, but this Sesshōmaru is unsure of that._ ”

Kagome didn't really care _how_ it was happening; the fact that she was getting her own mokomoko-sama completely overtook her mind and she squirmed in excitement, “ _Yay! I get my o_ _w_ _n mokomoko-sama. Thank you_ _ **so**_ _much, Maru!_ ”

She paused in her squirming, before grinding very purposely back towards her mate, lover, and other half – her alpha and her equal and the owner of her heart. _“Let me show my thanks in a more tangible way, beloved Sesshōmaru mine._ ”

His answering grin, and the way he pinned her to the pelt, was all she could ever want in that moment.

\- - -

Toga was more than a little surprised when the mind of the nekomata that travelled with his son touched his mind and gave him a proper, formal invitation to reside with them until his immediate business (meaning the apology – nothing more. That was very smart, indeed. What a clever mate his son had!) was finished – not from his son, but from his _dau_ g _hter_ (-in-law; that was so hard to remember when he completely _adored_ the girl already; she was perfect for his eldest son and Toga wished that they weren't on such bad terms because he wanted to get to know her better – and to get to know his _son_ better, too; this new yōkai that was so obviously open and free with his affections around his pack) of all people.

It only took one day for Toga to be utterly _gobsmacked_ with his extended-pack.

A slightly lecherous monk who was wise and knowledgeable far beyond his years, with faint and receding lines of suffering in his body that spoke of a lifetime of expecting death. He was far different than the original memories had had him, although the new ones had been somewhat more in alignment. Toga was positively certain that no secret could be kept from him – or _pulled_ from him. He knew everything that went on in the pack, likely even before his alphas, and kept things in hand – Toga was well familiar with this kind of person, and was astonished that both his son and his daughter had such an unusual and valuable person's complete and utter devotion and loyalty.

A somewhat flamboyant (it seemed that he used to be far more so, but that some of the flamboyance was fading away as time passed), polite, utterly _hilarious_ , and **absurdly** talented moth yōkai (maybe, anyway; he didn't seem _normal_ – oh yeah, he'd been created by that Naraku bastard, to begin with – Toga didn't know how he'd ended up here, but that wasn't important right now... Wait; actually maybe it was, his instincts were _niggling_ at him) who was a stunning illusionist and a great conversationalist, with his head on _very_ straight. He kept uncontrollably alternating between seeming closer to his son's age and a good bit younger; Toga thought that there was something causing the struggle that he was unaware about – but also noticed that several people in the camp helped the yōkai with ease, and were used to the changes, so maybe it was nothing strange.

Ah-Un and Jaken he already knew; but Ah and Un spoke to him of how their pack treated them as sentient as they were, excepting the imp. That was a shock – especially when it was made clear that it was the fault of the only two females in the pack: and that they had been treating the twosome that was also one like that from the moment they met them, even before they could talk to them. Everybody in the pack excepting the little girl could talk to them, and someone always translated for her, although they assured him that even with nobody around, she understood them fine, because she read their hearts.

A young taijiya bonded to a nekomata, who seemed to adore his eldest son if the respectful, awed tone he had when talking about “Sesshōmaru-ni” was anything to go by. He was incredibly close to the illusionist and was most often the one approaching him when his struggles were worst. He also changed; from seeming older than his years to closer to his actual age, but his changes seemed different to the illusionist's somehow, even beyond the fact that his were incredibly deliberate rather than somewhat uncontrolled. They seemed more… intentional, it felt like.

The nekomata himself was great fun; and more than a little sly, just like a cat. They hadn't featured much in the memories, although they'd definitely been in them; the taijiya both as antagonist and ally, the nekomata as a recent ally.

Then there were the little ones; an eleven year old girl who had been killed by ōkami and the seventy four year old kitsune kit who had tried to steal shards from Kagome to get revenge; again, he remembered the kit well from the memories but he was definitely _different_ now. The girl had been familiar too, but she hadn't changed too much – except that after being made pack-daughter, her names for people changed.

He had been slightly surprised when he'd been informed that the alphas that _very_ obviously cared for their pack had told the group to fend for themselves; until he found out _why_ they were gone, that it was a once-in-a-very-rare-time occasion, and that normally they did _not do that_ , although this time they had because every member of the group could fend for themselves. That was a surprise, but a pleasant one. Nobody here was _helpless_.

He realised, as he watched his son's pack train in the mornings, that this was probably the most balanced and talented family he'd ever met – and their ties all the stronger because they _picked_ each other and  wanted each other. They practically never argued seriously, were respectful to each other even as they teased and joked, never took things too far, and were, absolutely and positively, every last one of them, willing to do more than die for their alphas.

That was _great_ pack policy, right there. Especially once he found out about all the _extended_ -pack he would probably never meet just because there were so many widely-dispersed and varied members that considered their Kagome to be family to them and that Sesshōmaru literally believed that if they were Kagome's family, they were his too – even if he did not like them much.

Of course, they'd lucked out so far and the only person he'd disliked was his half-brother – and for good reason, too, Toga obviously knew. The pack had been slightly stunned at that, until he told them that Kagome arranged for him to know, leading the monk, Roku, to give him a knowing look; apparently _he_ ,at least, knew about the memories.

That wasn't much of a surprise because seriously, the monk was obviously head over heels for the girl, and also obviously as close to her as a precious and beloved sibling _would be_ to a loved younger sister. No jealousy, no fighting, no mean teasing – just unconditional, unashamed, and unbelievably strong love.

His son was an _amazing_ yōkai to be able to accept that into his pack; because he clearly knew – he _had_ to, that monk wouldn't let himself be accepted as pack if Sesshōmaru didn't know. He was too honourable by half to allow that sort of thing.

Toga couldn't _wait_ for his son and daughter(in-law) to come back to the group. As a matter of fact, he  wouldn't wait; once he sensed the two of them he would go seek them out – what he had to do and to say needed to be done in private, without anyone else knowing beforehand. He didn't care if anyone else knew: they all liked him a lot and were obviously unaware of his larger mistakes; except the monk, who was surprisingly accepting of him _anyway_ , despite feeling that Sesshōmaru was a beloved brother. (Maybe that boded well for Toga and meant that his apology would be accepted, but he wouldn't expect it to go that way just because Roku accepted him as he was – that acceptance could merely be due to the knowledge that his son still respected him.) It was more important that his son and daughter(in-law) have the privacy they deserved when he apologised – and more.

\- - -

Kagome arched beneath her lover as he ever-so-gently scraped his fangs over her mating mark, his breath whispering over the scars as he murmured to her how much he _loved_ her, how _precious_ she was to him, how _amazing_ she was, how he _needed_ her, _wanted_ her, _delighted_ in her.

She quietly responded to him the same exact things, sobbing against his shoulder as he made love to her in such a way that she would _never_ forget how much he desired, cared for, and needed her; she would never be able to doubt his love for her again, even when mindless with fear, and he _knew_ that, and just went on making it even **more** impossible to forget as he practically worshipped her body. She'd done the last to _him_ the last round they had, he murmured to her, so it was only _fair_ she get the same treatment – she obviously needed it just as much as he had, if not far, _far_ more.

Kagome couldn't even deny that – she'd woken up this morning, many, many hours ago now, from a terrifying nightmare that she had only had once before; only to find his arms around her, him murmuring to her in her mind, out loud, and sending comfort and love to her through their bond... And had then, in an instinctive reaction to the lingering terror from the uncommon nightmare, promptly been unable to stop the deep, heart-wrenching fear that he was a dream, that _this_ was a dream and she was unworthy of him and Inuyasha was _right_ about all those things he'd said about her and please just be a dream, don't be a dream, she was so  confused!

Well; her mate had obviously not been about to allow any of that to stand, because it was so very _wrong_. Kagome knew that now; more than knew it, _believed_ it. She'd found out by now that not only were those two very distinctly different things, but that they were both _integral_ to making things even. She'd made him believe in _her_ all those moons ago; now he was making  her believe in _him_. It was as simple as that, he'd said, and as he kissed his way along her collarbone and up the front of her throat, his body moving within her even as he held her close and pressed against her, she cried _harder_ because he was not holding the slightest bit of _anything_ back from her and **fuck** he loved her _every last_ _bit_ as much as she loved him; wholly, unrestrainedly, with every single piece of his heart and soul.

It wasn't even hard not to think about the scar disfiguring her body – that had been the first thing he worshipped, and Kagome now knew without fail that to him, the deep gash curving over and around her hip was part of what made her _perfect_. She'd kind of known before – he always paid attention to it – but never really been able to wrap her head around it. It was not that he couldn't love her without it, not at all, it was just that it was something integral to what made them _them_ and for that he loved it about her, completely and totally.

It made her _more_ beautiful to him, and she hadn't been able to stop sobbing since then, because he loved her so much and she loved him _just as much_ and it was **too perfect** for anything and she was the luckiest being alive and she was oh, ever so happy.

Her happiness was infectious, and her mate was encouraging every last bit of it, even though it meant he had to regularly stop what he was doing to her and lick away her tears for a few minutes.

They just made the experience even _more_ intimate and loving. Something that, like the time he had finally let loose those tears he had, when she had finally made him believe fully in her, neither of them would _ever_ forget.

He softly bit her earlobe and then her jaw and then down her neck and then her _mark_ and she came, gasping, crying, overcome. It was not the first time, nor, he informed her, would it be the last – he was going to keep this up until neither of them could stand it any more.

And that was _exactly_ what he did.

It was after mid-day by the time he finally allowed himself to orgasm, and they were both worn out, exhausted, and sated, in the _best way_ when he lifted her up and took her to the magic-made onsen. They bathed each other as best as they could without soaps – which meant that, despite the water, their scents clung to one another to anybody with a sensitive nose beyond normal yōkai levels; not that they cared. When they finished, Sesshōmaru dried them off with his yōki – it wasn't like they had _wasted time_ getting supplies this time; the only concession made was that Sess left the first night to get them meat to eat, and wood to cook it over – and then they dressed each other.

Now it was time for something important, and Sesshōmaru picked up a bundle of curled up fur – that had carefully been laid aside for this moment – and wrapped it around her waist, across her back, over her shoulder, and into the front of her haori and hanjuban. The yōki that her new body part held immediately attached itself to her reiki as soon as the mokomoko-sama touched her skin, and suddenly the mokomoko-sama _moved_ , and she could feel it inside her mind – not really sentient, but still **there**. It moved to a comfortable and easy to use position – much like Sess' had for him – and then settled down before curling around her mate's wrist happily. She smiled at him and clasped his hand, kissing him deeply and lovingly.

Kagome was just so _happy_.

And she stayed happy as they left, right up until they were a third of the way back to their pack and _Toga_ dropped down in front of them; obviously having sought them out. Kagome was about to be upset – seriously, how _rude_ , after her invitation and everything! _–_ when he lunged forward and grabbed his son in a hug, saying clear as day for anyone to hear, “I am _**so**_ proud of you, son.”

Kagome found that it was _impossible_ to be mad at someone who had just made her entire life so utterly happy, and she encouraged her mate, mentally, to hug his father back, letting his hand go. He did – obviously as the older yōkai had been about to step back, which made both of them smug at getting one over on the old man. When the embrace finally ended, Kagome was the one to reach forward and hug the other daiyōkai; again, much to his _incredibly_ obvious surprise, and her own sense of superiority.

Sess had _infected_ her; she utterly _loved_ it. When she stepped away, she responded to his politely unasked question with, “You just made my mate happier than he has possibly ever been until just now. How can I resent you for that when he is my life? And you did it in such a way that nobody knows, or saw, or can congratulate you for it. _Before_ apologising, as you obviously came to do. Toga-sama is incredibly honourable, and this Kagome is finally happy to call the Inu no Taishō her father.”

He choked, hugged her tighter, then grabbed her _mate_ for a group hug—which was a bit _much_ , _seriously_ , even though neither of them had their armour on—before finally stepping back and bowing to them. “This Toga sincerely and deeply apologises for any and all hurt he has caused his beloved son and daughter with his previous actions. To help make up for his obvious mistakes, this Toga offers his services in the form of teaching his idiotic and recalcitrant hanyō son exactly those things which he needs to learn at this time. This is penance because instead of simply beating the lessons into him at first, like this Toga dearly wishes to do, this Toga will use words and properly _teach_ those lessons to start with.”

Sesshōmaru was every bit as impressed as she was, and as she linked her arm in his (which he promptly changed to be more intimate and loving, holding her body against his own as their mokomokos – Kagome had finally become too lazy to add the -sama – intertwined with each other) he spoke for both of them, Kagome gladly allowing him to be alpha right now. She was _still_ exhausted from their lovemaking earlier. Maybe he would carry her back to camp...

“This Sesshōmaru and his mate Kagome accept your offer with great gladness, as we were not looking forwards to waiting the necessary decades for this one's younger brother to mature – especially since, as this Sesshōmaru noticed, the hanyō _has_ matured in some ways, which means that his actions are not for true inability, they are from stubbornness.”

“ _You never told me that... then again, I can see why; I don't like that at all._ _It just confirms so many things that are bad_.”

“ _I would rather you never had to know, but_ _F_ _ather likely already knows, and that is why he is choosing to teach in the way he is – blunt force used right to begin with would be ineffective, whereas stern words from the father he never knew will strike him deeply_.”

“ _In this, you are slightly alike, although obviously my mate is far superior – he only craved pr_ _i_ _de_ _from his father_ _; and did not need the lessons his father would have him taught, as he learned them without the aid of any other being._ ”

Her mate chuckled softly into her mind and commented, “ _Actually, koishi, this Sesshōmaru believes that, had he not met you, he would not have felt compassion for the girl-child that was_ _bothering_ _him_ _whilst he was wounded_ _, which led to him using Tenseiga on her when he came across her corpse. Maybe he would have, but this Sesshōmaru thinks otherwise. Still; you are right in that this one's father did not have to teach him those lessons personally; I learned them on my own._ ”

His father was clearly aware of what was going on – and amused by it – as he waited for them to look at him before speaking once more, “That is exactly why I am offering my services, Sesshōmaru: in times of crisis, duress, war, or strife, people – ningen, yōkai, and hanyō alike – mature more rapidly than they do in times of peace. My youngest has obviously matured a great deal more rapidly than he would have otherwise, but is being stubborn about this one thing – about Kagome. It would greatly please this Toga to understand _why_ the hell he is so insistent upon doing this, but that matters less than teaching him his wrongs and forcing him to accept a complete maturation in this matter.”

Great; Kagome had some _things_ to inform her new father of. He would likely be most displeased, as Sesshōmaru had been when she told him the first time – he never listened in on her conversations and so had not heard Sango's theory until a few days later after it was told to Kagome. Sigh. Her work was _never_ over.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Okay, so SWITCH – time to take a break from Kagome's pov for a chapter! Here we get to see from Inuyasha's point of view... And it _sucks_ and is confused and mixed up – _but_ it is also explained within as to why his mind is so utterly fucked up right now. There is a genuine reason for all this shit, though it boils down to stubborn, guilt-driven stupidity powering the reason. No long explanations, but there is reiteration, differently worded each time, cos it's pretty simple, honestly – Kagome will probably even (she's clever enough, for sure) figure it out on her own before Toga ever gets a chance to investigate his youngest the first time. She already has correct suspicions, which have been mentioned in a previous chapter.

Also, no I do not hate Inuyasha, although I honestly think he treated Kagome like shit and she deserved better – this is just a possible reason why he treated her like that, and in my fic it is the canon reason. Honestly, this shouldn't even be happening, he was _supposed_ to peaceably accept it in the end, as I mentioned when he departed their group, but nooo, uncooperative jerk.

The italics-in-parentheses are emotional instincts, yes his are uncommonly wordy and coherent; this is in part because they are not his regular instincts, they are strictly and only dealing with emotions, but mostly because of an ability his father has, it's going to be explained later.

Now, forward, ho!

\- - -

Inuyasha silently stepped away from camp as he did every morning, and ran for about ten minutes, as fast as he possibly could – enough time so that he was well out of hearing range of any nightmares – they always came worst in the morning as people woke up. Luckily, Sango didn't wake up until an “hour” or so _after_ dawn; well, dawn in summertime – it was before dawn in wintertime, but he knew that those hour things that the stupid bitch ( _that word isn't supposed to be used like that,_ _stop abusing her_ _she isn't even here, what is wrong with you_ ) was always talking about instead of using candle marks were the same even when the sunrise got later, so he wasn't really upset with that.

By now he realised that by leaving just before the wench and that stupid kit ( _smarter than you,_ _he_ _doesn't ignore the important things_ ) woke up, they had just gotten even _more_ bonding time as they comforted each other and then, he found out much later, and purely by accident, spent a good half a candle mark grooming each other like family did. ( _that_ _could have been you if you didn't ignore_ ) _That_ was when Inuyasha had finally realised that Ki-Kagome would _never_ be his, because she was yōkai enough – as his asshole half-brother pointed out _far_ too fuckin' often; seriously, why hadn't he fought harder to keep them away from each other? ( _you had no choice,_ _she_ _is alpha,_ _not you_ ) – that she would be looking for a father to her kit, and Inuyasha resented that little brat taking Kagome's attention away from him far too much to ever be anything like a father-figure to the little kitsune. ( _it's_ _your own fault, it could have been different_ )

Before then, even though she hadn't made any moves or anything like that, he'd still been _hoping_. But that was what rubbed him the wrong way the most. She'd _changed_ so damn  muchever since Kikyō and Naraku died. ( _she isn't who you think she is, that's why, stop being blind._ _Kikyō is gone forever_ ) Now she didn't even _look_ like her previous incarnation at  all any more, her personality was different, and she just wasn't the wench he'd had with Naraku. Not that that was even a problem! He _liked_ this new Kagome! A lot more than the old one; her temper was still shit, but she didn't “sit” him as often, and she had started occasionally doing things and actions that _felt_ right to him, deep inside, and even if she _was_ spending too much time with Lord Icicle, she'd never be interested in him more than just a friend, and he'd never actually lower himself to take a “filthy” ningen into his pack as an alpha. ( _wrong, wrong, more blindness, stop ignoring the important things, stop ignoring the obvious_ )

_That_ was something that could and would _never_ change about Kagome. She was **a** **lpha** through and through. One hundred percent, as she would say, completely and wholly so.

Inuyasha always veered far, far away from those niggling thoughts prodding at him all the time ( _she's more alpha than you are, more alpha than you could ever be, it's not your pack, it's hers, stop being so stupid and ignoring_ ) that maybe he wasn't the alpha in their pack even at _all_. Maybe it was _just_ her.

Yeah, those thoughts were never touched. Stupid ningen emotions. ( _wrong, wrong, false, stop ignoring, stop denying, listen, dammit)_

The problem was, all those changes his whatever-the-fuck-she-was ( _could have been mate, now just friend-family, at least if you don't keep abusing her; if you do, she'll leave forever and stop caring about you_ ) was going through were pulling her _away_ from him. He couldn't understand it. Kagome had, at one point, loved him so strongly that it fuckin' suffocated the _hell_ out of him. Yeah, it'd been flattering, but Kikyō had always been more distant, and Inuyasha didn't know how to deal with that affection and care. So, he went to Miroku – after he'd realised that Kagome would probably never be his, but still hoping a little bit to have what was left of Kikyō ( _she's not Kikyō, she never was Kikyō you blind fool_ ) still stay with him for a reason beyond simple friendship and keeping a promise.

Miroku had asked Inuyasha how old he was – _both_ his actual and ningen-equivalent ages. Which'd been easy to answer: 201, but only 15 instead of 20, due to that damn fuckin' arrow. ( _if you had trusted and listened, that might not have happened. more blindness and ignoring_ )

At which point Miroku looked at him seriously and compassionately, and told Inuyasha the words that that begun the landslide that had _ruined_ his _life_. Kagome was sixteen, physically – and much, _much_ older, mentally. Closer to or even _in_ her early twenties.

And suddenly a load of things clicked into place. The wench was a mother and an adult now – Inuyasha _had_ grown up a lot, but he knew he hadn't grown up enough to match how fast _she'd_ grown up. Not in the ways that really, _truly_ mattered. ( _wake up, start treating her better than you do, you fool. listen, listen, listen_ ) Now he knew, that that fond look whenever she looked at him – the one that'd given him _hope_ , dammit! – was probably how an adult looked at a teenager they really liked and looked forwards to seein' grow up. He'd never had a look like that directed towards him before, so it made sense he'd mistaken it...

Sure enough, when he took a careful observation of how she looked at her _son_ , the look she gave the brat was pretty much the same as the one she gave him, only with a helluva lot more love in it. That was probably on purpose, because somehow Inuyasha just _knew_ that Kagome was waiting for him to be able to move on before she said anything – which was why she hadn't acted on anything, or shown interest, but hadn't denied him outright, either. ( _you don't deserve that, she's too good for you, you are losing her; have lost her already_ )

He'd thought that he could handle that; especially if she really _did_ wait for him to get over the loss of her – and more importantly, ( _such a fool, such a fucking fool. so blind, so very blind_ ) he admitted, the final loss of Kikyō. He knew she might move on a little sooner than he was ready, but so long as she waited _most_ of the time, he could handle it.

When the Ice Prince came and told them that due to that stupid fuckin' alliance agreement that he _hated_ , ( _smart alpha gaining the pack protection and aid,_ _you should learn from her_ ) and because she needed to recover from a big attack – stupid fuckin' wench, always getting herself into trouble, seriously ( _and whose fault is that, you should have had her trained you fool; you idiot, you almost killed her so many times_ _because you wouldn't get her trained_ ) – he was taking her to his home to help train her miko powers (Kikyō called them reiryoku, he thought) he was pretty unfazed, despite his actions.

Honestly, Inuyasha didn't care that much except that she finally _was_ getting them trained – she was decent, but nothin' like Kikyō'd been, and besides, this way she'd be less of a burden on the group – yeah she brought them future-stuff and did her best to keep everyone happy, but when it came to fighting, the bitch was damn-near useless, seriously. ( _stop saying that, you are lying, stop hurting her, stop hurting them, stop this abuse, abuse, abuse, you will lose them all if you keep this up_)

Maybe he'd luck out and the asshole'd make her learn to actually fight a little. Sesshōmaru seemed like the type to be displeased that an ally couldn't defend themselves. Hell; Inuyasha'd even be willing to take a break from hunting shards if that happened – he might not ever be able to have her as his mate, but the more Kagome learned, the closer she'd be to Kikyō and that would ease the pain of her loss forever. ( _not Kikyō, why are you so blind, why do you ignore the obvious, she's never been Kikyō_ )

The hanyō really never realised how mixed up and _wrong_ his way of thinking was, because he'd never known better – oh, sure, every time he thought of her as Kikyō some part of his brain threw a damn fit ( _listen, listen, **listen** , stop ignoring, **stop ignoring**_ ), but he could ignore that; ( _stop it, **stop it** , listen you **idiot**_ ) it was the same part that always threw a fit pretty much whenever he interacted with the bitch ( _that word isn't to be **used** that way,  dammit_) unless he was doing her a stupid favour or bein' nice because that part had begun to actually _hurt_ him. ( _you deserve the pain, you deserve so much more pain than you get for abusing her and for ignoring_) Seriously, being a hanyō sucked; he was sure yōkai never had these problems. Fuckin' ningen instincts messing things up. ( _wrong, wrong, other side, you idiot, stop ignoring_ )

Inuyasha never once stopped to think that maybe this _was_ a yōkai thing, that he was ignoring his _yōkai instincts_ , and that it was even _worse_ for them.

Inuyasha left at that point in the conversation; more than a little agitated with how _familiarly_ the kitsune'd reacted towards his half-brother, but trying to ignore it – Shippō and that girl that followed Sesshōmaru around were _good_ friends, after all, and since the Ice Prince treated her like a daughter nowadays, it was likely that since Shippō didn't actually have an adult male yōkai influence, the daiyōkai was taking over – Kagome was a great mom, but she was still _ningen_. Hell, she was probably _encouraging_ it. Maybe the kit would stay with his half-brother and Kagome would go back to being mostly _his_ , even though it'd just be as best friends. ( _never, never, she will never leave her kit, but yes she thinks brother makes a good father. it is over for good and you blinded yourself to it, you are still blinding yourself to it you fool. if you think it hurts now just wait until you realise it is all your fault for abusing her and ignoring_ )

That absurd thought settled him down quite nicely, so much that he didn't even notice the simmering tension in the camp – a few days later it was gone, and he noticed _something_ had changed, and asked the group what was up. The monk had smiled wryly and said that he and Sango had talked things over and realised they didn't actually want the same things from life. Oh, he loved her dearly, but he wouldn't really be happy settling down yet, and he didn't really want to live in a taijiya village, either. He'd just been going to do it anyway for her sake. And she wasn't ready to be a housewife yet, either. So they decided that they were better off as friends, and were happier with the change.

The implied message within – that it wasn't right to change yourself or try to change someone else for the sake of love, and that if someone had to change for a relationship to work, then the relationship never _would_ really work – actually struck Inuyasha where it hurt ( _listen, listen, **listen**_ ), but he couldn't _handle_ that right now, not without Kagome's soothing presence here, so he covered it up and ignored it, like he did far, _far_ too many things.

A moon finally passed – and so they left to go to the shiro his half-brother practically never lived in. Even Inuyasha could see that Sesshōmaru far preferred travelling and patrolling than he did the fancy court lifestyle, and probably only put up with it for as little time as he could possibly manage. It was one way they were alike in – they both preferred to live _in_ the land, rather than _apart_ from it.

Due to Inuyasha's insistence on seeing the wench _as soon as possible_ ( _what is wrong with her name that makes you almost never use it_ ), they arrived at the enormous building before they even had a chance to eat breakfast – he hoped he woke his stupid half-brother up, although he wasn't expecting it: she always woke up just over a candle mark before dawn in the summertime when the sun rose the earliest, and kept waking up at that same time after the middle of the night, even when the sun rose later. And Lord Asshole probably slept even less than Inuyasha did. ( _wrong, so wrong, you never sleep enough because you ignore and ignoring messes everything else up_ )

Inuyasha was _not_ best pleased when they were shown to a guest wing, told where the wing's dining room was, and that they would be seeing Lord Sesshōmaru and Lady Kagome in the private dojo after they had finished with their breakfast. Inuyasha missed the implication – and the looks shared between his other four companions – with how pissed he was that he actually had to fuckin' _wait_ to see his damn friend. She was _his_ , not his _brother's_. ( _not true, not true, she hasn't been yours for so very long, was **never** yours how you thought_ )

Only that thought about the wench being his was _wrong_ and Inuyasha had known it the moment he saw that _damn_ look on her face the moment his _brother, of all people_ actually  complimentedher. ( _idiot, of course he did, you are supposed to do that when someone does well_ ) Kinda surprising though; complimenting Kikyō'd made the woman adorably vain and preen for ages afterwards, she loved it. It got annoying after the first couple times, though, so he'd kept his compliments for when they really mattered... And well, Kagome was just so _inferior_ to his first love ( _such a fucking fool, so untrue, she is superior in every way; more power, loyalty, love_ ) that she never got compliments from Inuyasha at all.

However, when the spar started, he _saw_ how much **harder** she worked after every time his brother said something positive about what she was doing (purposely ignoring the _look_ in the daiyōkai's eyes – he was good at ignoring things he didn't want to deal with, by now), and Inuyasha realised that maybe the reason his friend was so inferior... ( _lies, lies, lies_ ) Was because he'd _never_ praised her, for the most part. Kikyō didn't work harder when she got praised, she just got satisfied. Kagome, obviously, was _not_ like that.

Maybe if he'd been able to see that earlier she'd have been good enough to keep the fuckin' jewel from shattering again ( _not her fault, it's yours for not having her trained, you fool_ ) – but whatever, she was real damn good now, and he knew the truth, so he could get her to learn more and work harder and become more like Kikyō had been ( _not happening, never happening, she isn't Kikyō, she was never Kikyō_ ) and they could get rid of that stupid jewel. He wanted it _gone_ , mostly because even though he knew it was more important to make sure the thing never got used again, knew that the wish would be fucked up and twisted around... He _still_ wanted the jewel for himself, and he knew that it wasn't his fault; it was the fault of that fuckin' jewel. So he'd told her to get rid of it, to get rid of that damnable temptation. ( _smart, good, that thing is terrible, leave it be_ )

This had been right before the end of Naraku, so like, a year and a half ago. -ish, as the wench would say, since he wasn't exactly sure; hanyō and yōkai didn't keep track of time as strong as ningen did. Still; they could get her _away_ from his half-brother before the asshole decided  Kagome was special enough to change his mind about ( _he already has you ignorant fool, you saw the look he had just for her_ ), and then maybe they'd help Sango rebuild her village; that would give him plenty of time to spend with her before she eventually found someone else.

Only, then, his brother _bit her nose_ and that part of his mind – or rather those parts, 'cause there were more than one, and he just almost never listened to them unless they screamed “DANGER” to him – slammed knowledge into him so hard that he was dazed for a good half of the next part of training. That was a thing only meant for pack. She was part of Sesshōmaru's pack, therefore she wasn't part of _his_ pack ( _it was never yours_ , they whispered, _always hers_ , but he **firmly ignored that lie** ) any more. That meant the fucking asshole had probably _already changed his mind_ and she looked so much more open and stronger and confident that he was _making her happy_ which meant it was probably _already too late_.

How _long_? He wanted to know _so much_ right now, ( _you don't deserve to know after ignoring and abusing her for so long_ ) like when the icicle melted, when he decided it didn't matter she was ningen, when _she_ started liking _him_ as more than a friend, how she got so fast and strong (it was only just now occurring to him that Sesshōmaru hadn't been going easy on her, which was beyond disturbing – that meant she was _faster_ and _stronger_ than Inuyasha himself was, but she was a weak ningen; that shouldn't be possible), if they were just pack right now or if they were _more_. (please, please, no, don't be  more – _too late, far too late, you lost her already; so very long ago_ ) If she'd been lying to him and hiding whatever was going on between the two of them, or if nothing _had been_ going on between them until she got here, or if it was one of those stupid things where it just kind of _happened_.

Oh Kami he was so _fucked_ if it was the last kind of thing because Inuyasha knew enough about relationships, for all he rarely used that knowledge, to know that relationships that just kind of _happened_ tended to be _permanent_ and _lasting_ and impossible to tear apart. Because they only _just kind of happened_ because the people involved were so well matched that feelings were there before they even noticed there was any damn change.

That was how he had fallen for Kikyō, ( _she didn't feel the same way, but you never saw that because you blinded yourself, you fool_ ) after all, and he _still_ wasn't over her; over fifty years later and despite numerous attempts on her part to either kill him or drag him to hell with her. Yeah, she'd changed towards the end, but that didn't really mean that whatever she did before had no effect on things; Kagome'd been the one to teach him that. Strangely enough because the fuckin' idiot felt _sorry_ for the same woman who'd (she claimed, and even though he didn't _want_ to believe her, she was probably not lying, she never smelled of deceit) tried to kill her more than once. ( _never lying, only clay was lying, that thing was not Kikyō, just like Kagome is not Kikyō_ )

Despite all his thinking, he'd been watching the chase, and he was reluctantly impressed; and a little jealous. He'd had to learn to fight and survive on his own; although he admitted that his half-brother'd genuinely helped him learn to use Tessaiga after he found out that without it Inuyasha went pretty crazy. Sure it'd been crouched in terms of “hand it over”, but even back then Inuyasha had known that Sesshōmaru was _toying_ with him; if he'd ever wanted the hanyō dead, he'd be dead, full stop. He wasn't sure _what_ had kept his half-brother running into them, but it definitely wasn't lust for the power of Tessaiga and never had been. If it wasn't for Tessaiga he would never have gotten anywhere in this world, which was part of the reason for all the resentment; that and the fact that his asshole half-brother had never bothered to help him _before_ then.

He purposely didn't think about how it would affect a pre-teen to have his father die, have to take over all of these new duties, and simultaneously keep on a mask so that nobody knew if he was struggling. He refused to sympathise with the bastard; he had _always_ made his life **miserable** , and it was even _worse_ now. ( _all your fault, all your fault, all of it_ )

Much to Inuyasha's surprise, the chase ended almost... Violently.

Until he realised that the damn wench had actually _expected_ it and _landed on her feet_ and that this, too, must be normal. What kind of fucked up  was Sesshōmaru that literally throwing a damn ningen girl across a dojo was a _normal_ part of training? ( _she obviously isn't just a simple ningen any more, stop ignoring, you idiot, and **see**_ ) And then the wench had said she looked _forward_ to it _tomorrow_? Oh _fuck_ no, he was taking her away from here as soon as possible, and she had made him a _promise_ so she would come with him, whether she wanted to or not. ( _not happening that way, women aren't treated like that, and her especially, fucking listen and stop ignoring like you always do_ )

Before he could make a move however, Sango attacked, and he resigned himself to getting the greetings and shit outta the way before they left.

Especially since questions were getting asked that _he_ wanted the answers to, as well. So he settled himself in for a while. After this he'd get her to leave with him.

Only, the shit she'd just let them know _spun his head around_. If this shit was all true, than Kagome was _way_ more powerful than Kikyō had  ever been, and _Sesshōmaru , ningen-hater galore_ of all people was the only one who noticed; except maybe the monk, but Inuyasha couldn't be sure – sometimes Miroku _knew_ shit but he couldn't be _sure_ of it, so even if he'd known, he probably didn't dare say anything in case he was wrong. Which meant Inuyasha couldn't be pissed at him over that; damn. He needed someone to take his anger out on. ( _take it out on yourself, this is all your fault for being blind and ignoring_ )

He had _almost_ resolved to be **nice** to Kagome, as weird as it would feel, when he suddenly came to the realisation that Kagome would not be leaving with _him_ , if she left the shiro soon. Not if his half-brother's little girl was calling _his_ Kagome “Mama.”

Even worse was when he saw how instantly the rambunctious kitsune obeyed the bastard; and then called him, “Papa.”

That just _tore_ it, and even though parts of him were screaming at him, ( _ **you deserve this** **pain** **so** **much** **,** **don't you dare do this you abusive jerk**_ ) he did what he always did with them when it wasn't _important_ ; he fuckin' ignored them, and confronted the bitch who was _breaking her promise_ and who hadn't done as she had made it seem like she would, waiting for him to grow up and move on, himself. Despite the fact that he wasn't even really sure he loved her, she was _Kikyō_ , ( _never, never, you fucking fool, she was never Kikyō_ ) which meant she was _his_ , and he was _not_ just going to let her go. ( _you have no choice, she is already gone, she was never yours that way, always her own self_ )

Despite the fact that she was _ningen_ and would probably be in her old age by the time he matured enough to move past her, with how he kept purposely ignoring his instincts whenever they told him things he didn't like, didn't want to hear. He wanted to be yōkai, but he was ignoring the thing that was the most yōkai about him, just because he subconsciously didn't want to face the mistakes he'd made. Just because he thought it was his ningen instincts he was ignoring didn't make his actions any better.

Ignoring _any_ instincts on purpose was rather stupid.

Then again, as Miroku had pointed out after he left camp the day that he truly, finally lost Kagome for good; he was still only fifteen. Teenagers were frequently very stupid – especially without parental influence to guide them through things.

Imagine his surprise when she didn't yell, scream, or cry at him. When she stood her ground, defended her family, refused to let him intimidate her, and insulted him, all in one fell swoop. ( _good alpha, proud alpha, yes very alpha, so much more than you ever have been_ ) Just how _much_ had she changed that he had blinded himself to? Man, fuck, whatever, it _didn't matter_ , she was _his_ and she **would** keep her promise, _no matter what_. She was supposed to stay with him until he didn't want her any more. ( _wrong, wrong, so very bad, you shouldn't treat her that way_ )

So he just screamed at her the things that she needed to hear from him, ignoring those instincts raging at him even worse this time ( _ **this is all your fault for being blind and ignoring and stupid and treating her wrong,** **DON'T YOU** **DARE DO THIS**_ ) – but before she even got a chance to respond, Sango – his _own pack-mate_ ( _no, hers, not yours; they are all hers_) up and slapped him.

That shocked him out of his hormonal, unreasonable, selfish anger long enough to listen to what she was saying – actually listen, although, unbeknownst to him, it didn't matter how much he listened right now, because it still wouldn't be enough to last more than a few days before he reverted back. Not when he was refusing to listen to the most important of his instincts, the emotional ones, and not when he thought of these people as his peers instead of his superiors. Unfortunately, he hadn't been told how important those instincts were; having been raised by the gentle woman that was his (very) ningen mother. Not listening to them would get him killed some day, if someone didn't step in and help.

Still; for now he was listening, his ears falling back further and further against his head the longer she went on. It _definitely_ didn't help that a very low, rumbling, and almost completely inaudible growl that was absolutely _furious_ started up when Sango mentioned some of the things he'd always said to Kagome... And right now, for the life of him, he couldn't honestly remember _why_ he'd said those things, how he'd gotten in the habit of it, but the problem was so much of him still compared her to Kikyō and she was _nothing_ like her pre-incarnation, who was so much different and better than her... ( _different, but not better, just different_) Maybe she didn't deserve all the stuff he'd said to her, but how _else_ was he supposed to make her change to be more like who she was _supposed_ to be? ( _so wrong, she is already how she is supposed to be you fool_ )

Not once did it consciously occur to him that he was really messed up for trying to make her into someone she was never meant to be; or that it was horrible of him to try and force her to change like that. Mostly because he was literally only working with half of what he had going for him, and until he stopped regularly ignoring his yōkai half, mistaking it for ningen instincts, he would never be able to think straight.

Then, something the little girl said struck into him.

...Brother? So; she hadn't actually been intending on breaking her promise after all, she was just... Changing their relationship to something deeper than friends, but not romantic? ( _of course, you fool. you know her, she would never abandon you, even though you lost her._ _not as long as she doesn't realise you hurt her on purpose._ _if she ever does you will lose her caring completely_ )

Considering that Inuyasha wasn't even sure he loved Kagome romantically except for that she was Kikyō, ( _she's not Kikyō,_ _she_ _never_ _was_ _Kikyō_ ) that... Might be a good thing.

Whoa, Sesshōmaru had _never_ had a real friend before Kagome? Considering how much older he was, that he wasn't a hanyō and naturally despised by both species, that he was practically a fuckin' royal... Even Inuyasha'd had Kikyō, then Kagome, and rapidly after her came Miroku and Sango...

He needed to try to think. But he also needed to know more shit than what he had to go on right now, so he quietly left the dojo and closed the shoji screen door, leaning against the frame of it to take in their continued conversation.

What he heard pretty much broke his heart, because it should be _him_ calling _Kikyō_ “koishi”, and hearing her giggle so happily, joking around and being intimate. ( _all your fault in every way, you treated her wrong and she rightly found someone else_ ) It wasn't fuckin' _fair_. Kagome had been his chance to have Kikyō back again, and she was _gone again_.

It _was_ pretty funny to hear his brother given a nickname, though; even more hilarious when he realised that the dumbass had _let_ her do it **on purpose**. Seriously, how stupid could you get?

Did he just _laugh_? Okay… Creepy. Really. Fucking. Weird. Especially because it actually kinda...  Suited him.

He almost barked at Shippō's comment about “bein' all mushy again,” first off because it was hilarious, secondly because the icicle really _had_ melted, and thirdly – whoa, Sango was _apologising_? What the... Oh no.

No.

They had _known_! Dammit, those _fuckers_ had _known_ and **none** of them warned him! ( _you blinded yourself, you could have known, should have seen, but you ignored_ )

He needed to calm down; he knew those guys like family, so they wouldn't have done it to hurt him – probably they'd been warned against telling him; that made the most sense and was much more likely than his friends knowing and simply _not telling him_ for no reason at all.

Then he listened to what the taijiya – and then the wench – was saying and his ears fell back again. He hadn't really treated her _that_ bad; had he? ( _yes you did, you always did because you are blind and cruel and refuse to listen_ ) That was pretty much how women got treated here, well except for Sango but she was a warrior. ( _doesn't matter, you are yōkai, women are not treated that way, **ever**_ ) Sure, the wench wasn't from this time but that didn't really matter all that much, did it? ( _never mattered, she belongs here, but you still treat her wrong, always have, you are not ningen you are yōkai, you never treated Kikyō like you treat her, you insist on comparing them but you don't even treat her the same_ )

He _did_ pay attention to the stuff that was being said about scenting and shit, and the rest of it after; he might need to know it someday, after all he _was_ half yōkai.

The idea of Kagome not being ningen was pretty absurd, though. Even though, from the looks of it earlier...

Damn, maybe the monk was right; or the woman was right, whichever.

Wait; she _wouldn't die_? Inuyasha knew her enough to read between what she was saying: “effective” immortality his ass; Kagome would probably not die until the world ended and it was  killing her to know that.

Inuyasha had No. Fuckin'. Idea. How the shit to deal with that. That was just. Too weird, and wrong, and who the fuck _was_ this person who had taken over the wench and made her completely _different_? She was _even less_ like Kikyō than she had been before, and he _hated_ it! ( _all your fault, she was never Kikyō_ )

He stolidly ignored what his brother said about fighting with him over how he treated her. That was just how women got _treated_ , his half-brother was just weird for not being the same. ( _no, he is yōkai, he treats her right, always has, even when he was trying to kill her_ ) He _also_ ignored what they said before that about the wench being the one in charge; that was just wrong. ( _never, they are right, you have never been alpha, it was always her because of the beads_ )

He almost left now, they just seemed to be chattering about random stuff... and then they started in on _him_ , **again** , but then she said something that kept him right where he was at. This shit hadn't even been _natural_? She'd made the  decision to move on? ( _good, smart alpha doing what is best for herself and not staying with the one who abuses her, smart alpha is so intelligent_ )

How fucking unfair was that? He hadn't done anything wrong, dammit! And seriously – Miroku was no friend of his any more if he'd been a part of that decision in any way, shape, or form.

Even if it'd been an accident.

And then... _Then_... His world got turned on its axis.

His half-brother actually had a completely reasonable and _legitimate_ reason for hating him, from what it sounded like – and, despite his father completely breaking from his culture and _abandoning_ him, he **still** respected and loved him.

That was...

Inuyasha didn't know _what_ to think about that. His father must have been an amazing person, ( _he will be so ashamed if he ever sees you now_ ) and he wished he'd been able to know him. And maybe his half-brother... Well, Inuyasha couldn't honestly say he blamed him for how he'd treated him any more. Not after hearing _that_. ( _good, you listened, now stop ignoring when it comes to her_)

He had a lot of thinking to do. So, silently, he left the dojo door and padded back to the guest rooms.

\- - -

Honestly, Inuyasha hadn't been sure what he was going to say to Kagome when he finally exited the wing; but for some reason he couldn't explain, by the time he'd gotten to the public dojo, there were two things burning in his mind – one, that he _was so angry with her_ for this entire situation (especially because deep down, he knew it wasn't even her fault – _all your fault, only your fault, **don't you fucking dare hurt her even more, this is unforgivable, stop ignoring, STOP IGNORING** **AND LISTEN,** **DAMN YOU**_ – although he was, as usual, ignoring that knowledge), and she needed to know how he felt. Two, he needed to stay _away_ from them until he moved on from her and that meant, since she would be hurt by his absence ( _wrong, wrong and you know it stop lying stop **ignoring** )_, he needed to make her _really pissed off_ at him.

Yeah, he'd felt a little guilty about what he was about to say to her, ( _ **she doesn't deserve this, you deserve so much hurt and pain for** **HURTING HER,** **you unforgivable fool**_ ) but he'd felt glad to one, get all that shit – true, untrue but he _thought_ it was true, and blatant lies to make her furious with him after she stopped being hurt – off his chest and into the air. And two, know that she wasn't alone without any of her old friends – Shippō didn't count, he was her _son_ – because Inuyasha had driven the monk away, quite on purpose. He couldn't stand to be around the guy after finding out how long ago – before the end of _Naraku_ , for fuck's sake – he'd “accidentally” helped his “sister” decide not to love Inuyasha any more. So when he wasn't in his room he'd bitched at the monk, until he left.

Until then, a small part of Inuyasha had hoped that maybe this would be temporary or she was just trying to get revenge, but no – if she'd stopped loving him that long ago, there was no way she'd be able to start again without something seriously changing. Plus, now that he'd seen how the asshole treated her, he knew that she would _never_ leave Sesshōmaru – especially not when it was painfully clear that they were made for each other; probably _literally –_ he'd never seen any two people fit together so perfectly and read each other as well as they did. This had definitely just _kind of happened_ between them.

The only reason he knew that, was, it turned out there was a freaking _magic_ mirror in his room, get that! He'd wished out loud that he could see what Kagome was doing right then, a while after lunch once he'd left the dojo the first day, and the mirror had immediately shown him. Much to his surprise (until he realised where they were must've been a private, family-only place), Kagome, Rin, Shippō, and Sesshōmaru had all been in a garden together – _sleeping in a pile_. Well, Sesshōmaru hadn't been asleep, but the rest of them had been, both of the children curled up on that fluffy thing Sesshōmaru had and clinging to the wench's kimono front. _She_ 'd been pressed up against his half-brother's chest, one of her hands holding his, weirdly enough, and his half-brother...

Usually those golden eyes he had were as cold as ice. He'd seen just that morning in the dojo that they could burn too, but this – this was something _different_ , and Inuyasha thought that probably nobody on earth but _Kagome_ could inspire the look on the asshole's face right now – a look of complete and total devotion, protectiveness, and love that literally took Inuyasha's breath away for a spare moment. ( _that is what she deserves, has always deserved, you should have looked at her like that_ ) He hadn't even been aware that anyone _could_ look like that, especially not his frozen half-brother.

After thinking about how his childhood had obviously not been rosy and happy like Inuyasha had thought it was, that his own father'd abandoned him and then got himself killed, that his _mother_ had abandoned him (the thought of his own mother doing that to him was too much to bear and he had to immediately stop it) for over two centuries, and even then _he'd_ had to seek _her_ out... And that, as soon as his father'd died, he'd had to grow up and take on heavy duties that he probably hadn't been ready for… (Sesshōmaru'd only been _nine_ for fuck's sake!)

Inuyasha had to admit that he actually had a lot of sympathy for the bastard now, and even though he _really_ wished it hadn't been the wench, he was glad that _someone_ could make him look like _that_.

Even though he knew it probably was only ever going to be Kagome who could open the icicle up like that; she was gifted with melting things. ( _then stop treating her so bad,_ _you idiot_ )

Over the next few days he'd spent a lot of time watching the little family – both in and out of court, at various times of day, and lots of time when they were just being with each other... He'd accidentally seen their grooming one morning (he'd kept watching, even though he felt a little guilty – pack grooming was _private_ , even _Inuyasha_ knew that) and saw the care they took making sure everyone groomed each other equally. That spoke of a lot of respect and trust.

And the way Sesshōmaru treated her...

Inuyasha didn't know _why_ the bastard treated her so different than most men did their women in this day and age, ( _because he is yōkai you idiot, you never treat anyone else like you treat her_ ) but he was probably the only guy that would treat Kagome the way he did, ( _any yōkai would treat her so much better than you do, even the ōkami who sees her as property_) and she was very _obviously_ thriving with the care he gave her.

Even so, Inuyasha's own feelings towards his now sister-in-law were so mixed up and tangled that he didn't know what to do about her.

It didn't help that it was only _her_ and _Kikyō_ that he was screwed up towards; or that his _instincts_ knew that deep down, he honestly _did_ know why, was purposely ignoring and running away from his action and the consequences of it, and were furious with him for ever doing what he did and for being a coward.

Because in the deepest part of his mind, he remembered that the moment he had realised that the wench was Kikyō's reincarnation, ( _not true, she isn't who you think she is, don't you **dare do what you are about to do you piece of** **shit**_ ) he could indirectly get revenge against the woman he'd loved with all his heart for her betrayal by hurting her as bad as he could while still keeping her around – this girl was an innocent, after all, it'd be pretty easy to do... And then he'd found out about Naraku, felt _so fucking miserably guilty_ because he'd been _purposely_ hurting kind, innocent Kagome over a _lie_ ( _you abusive, unworthy asshole, you didn't listen, don't ignore again, **nodon'tyoudaredothis**_ ), that he promptly wiped the incident from his mind and continued on treating her like he had since he met her, ( _ **listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, stop ignoring, going to hurt you SO BAD for ignoring and make you** **STOP ABUSING HER,** **listen, listen, listen**_ ) because to do anything else would be to admit his actions, and he was a heartbroken teenager who just wasn't up to doing that, right now.

It was probably very fortunate for him that only the ningen part of his mind felt that way about what he'd done, because that would make getting _out of_ the mess he'd gotten himself _into_ a whole hell of a lot easier.

Especially when his father promptly was forced back to life, almost immediately found out about what he'd done, shortly after that found out the “probable” (true – Sango was very intelligent, and so was Kagome for believing her) reason behind why he'd done it, and was a very experienced daiyōkai who could very well tell when someone's instincts weren't working properly for some reason or another – one who knew how to _immediately_ fix the problem, even though it usually meant some agony for the person he fixed for a few days.

Then again, the yōkai half of his hanyō son agreed with the father that the boy deserved it, and thought that it was about _damn_ time; because that half knew so much more than the ningen half did, and was, frankly, sick of being ignored and pushed down all the time unless the stupid boy went into a rage.

Inuyasha's world was about to get tilted on its axis again, only this time it would probably end up saving his life in the future. A hanyō without their instincts never lives very long – especially when they _did_ use them growing up, but stopped using the most important ones at the most integral point of growth, all over something so stupid as a mistaken, shallow first love and an uncontrolled wish for revenge.

It would be a hard lesson to learn, but one that was very sorely needed – and given to him by the only person that could do so without causing permanent hatred and resentment for the treatment being given.

Not for some time yet, though – Inuyasha hadn't been the _only_ reason that Toga was brought back, after all. Just the obvious one. And the other reason needed him with much more immediacy than his youngest son did.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** **PLEASE READ THIS EVEN THOUGH IT IS LONG.** At the end of this chapter there is a tea ceremony; one that continues into the following chapter. I am **not an expert** and even though I did a **_shit-ton_** of research, there are so many variables and different sorts of rituals that I gave up on trying to make sure it exactly followed how things were supposed to be, because there _is_ no one true way. There were two more reasons for doing this: first off, tea ceremonies have evolved since they were invented as culture changed; added to that reason is that yōkai culture is different than ningen culture. These changes are described, explained when I felt it was needed, and used.

Secondly, the nature of how the outdoor tea ceremony _has_ to be experienced in a “roughing it in the wilderness” setting means that Kagome has come up with her own personal temae (rituals) for doing things in certain situations when they are camping. These are explained and described as well; hopefully to an acceptable degree.

Also, I am **doing this right** ; I do explain what the terms mean eventually, but I mostly use the traditional Japanese name for each item (the first time they are used _during the ceremony_ , it is told what the term is referring to), although I try to make it clear what is what by other descriptive terms. This is because that is _how it works_. A bamboo tea whisk is _not a whisk_ , it is a _chasen_ , and etc. Using English terms when describing things in a Japanese tea ceremony is simply **not done**.

Next chapter, being a direct continuation, has a full glossary of the Japanese terms I use, right at the beginning. This might get confusing, folks, and I apologise ahead of time. That being said; hope you still enjoy it, and that I did a reasonable job on this complicated stuff!

\- - -

Time to piss Toga off; although Kagome hated to do it, if she didn't tell him, Sango would, and she'd rather he hear it from _her_ than from Sango.

Kagome sighed and spoke up softly to her father-by-mating, her conversation with her darker pack-brother's sister (and her heart-sister... It was not lost on Kagome that she now thought of Sango differently; it was probably a _good_ thing) surfacing in her mind, “Sango, Kohaku's sister, believes that when Inuyasha saw me, and realised that I was, so he thought, Kikyō's reincarnation, he began degrading me to get some small measure of revenge for her sealing him and, to his mind, betraying him. When he found out the truth about the supposed betrayal, he was already too used to treating me badly to change his habit – or to accept that that was what he had been doing at all; because otherwise his guilt would be far too great to face for someone with his ningen age and maturity. He likely has not even realised that I am not Kikyō's reincarnation; her soul was merely attached to the jewel that was born inside of me, and affected my looks until it was rather forcibly removed from me.

“My soul was torn when she gained a body, due to being used – as a shard replacement, which was only possible because of my connection to the Shikon – to anchor her soul to the clay golem. However, since most of her soul departed to the afterlife for awaiting reincarnation when it left my body, it seemed to almost everyone – I'm positive Roku knew from the start that this was false, but didn't say anything because he had nothing to base his knowledge on – that she was simply the darkness in my soul that was taken from me; which was, frankly, fairly obviously untrue, seeing as I felt a great deal of jealousy towards her which is a very negative emotion. Similarly, I was frequently angered and sorrowful as well; we really were fools to think that the clay Kikyō was only so angry and hateful because she only held my negative emotions, especially because she was still devoted to destroying Naraku. Anyway; if what Sango believes is true, which it _feels_ so, then he brings much dishonour to his blood and you have every right to claim vengeance for that, Toga.”

Since he was now officially family, she didn't use the formal suffix; besides, it didn't suit him. Sesshōmaru had already known about Sango's theory, but he still growled – as, unsurprisingly enough, did his father – after she finished. They both _kept_ growling, until Sesshōmaru wisely picked her up, held her close, and scented her to calm down, even going so far as a mild claiming, nuzzling into her shoulder and mouthing her mark repeatedly (“ _mm, so nice, do that more, Sess._ ” was met with a smug amusement; and her getting what she wanted, as always, which made her every damn bit as smug, especially when he went so far as to scrape his teeth and fangs over it, causing her to shudder). His father, however, used a very familiar looking whip to bring down a thick tree branch; his was blue, instead of green – maybe lightning? Kagome was a little confused, until he _broke_ the branch – which was thicker than a fucking _femur!_ – into several, much-smaller pieces.

She correctly assumed that he would rather be breaking his youngest like this, which was made clear when he said, “From what you kindly showed me, I'd say that your heart-sister is right; and I am going to teach that _**boy**_ ,” he growled again, and it did not escape her notice that he one, no longer called Sesshōmaru a boy, and two, did not claim Inuyasha as _his_ , verbally, “a good few lessons that he _needs_ to know.”

Kagome smiled and reached forward to rest a hand on his shoulder – rather easily since her mate was now holding her as he so often did, and he was just as tall as his father was – then nodded, “Thank you very kindly – for your offer, for your intentions, and for your caring.”

He gave her a rather wry, and somewhat helpless, smile that made his son laugh with obvious amusement. Nobody was immune to Kagome's sweetness and kindness and courage, not even the Inu no Taishō, it appeared. “It seems, mate of mine, that Father is just as affected by your charms as is everyone you meet – he must have been must quite put out with himself for earning your ire before he had even met you, as, frankly, you are the ideal daughter for one such as him. And, of course, more importantly, _my_ ideal _mate_.”

Toga laughed merrily and clasped her hand rapidly before letting it go. “Exactly as he says. I was most displeased to find out that you disliked me before we had even met – I am _very_ likeable, after all; except when I'm not – and when you incredibly wisely showed me the reasons for your dislike, I was consumed with guilt and regret. Bokusenō was most displeased with me and wisely forced me out of it and into realising that instead of letting regret consume me, I should _fix_ the problem. Of course, I had to watch the rest first, but that was remedied easily, if not swiftly.

“By the by, this Toga thanks his daughter very much for kindly inviting him to stay with her pack – and giving him an advantage when he was so disadvantaged previously. This Toga doubts he would have been able to earn his way back into her good graces any time soon were it not for her wisdom in allowing him to interact with her mate's pack and realise what kind of people he drew in and surrounded himself with; because although many of them were initially drawn to Kagome, they are clearly just as solidly and firmly loyal to and beloved of Sesshōmaru as well.”

Kagome was immensely pleased with his thanks, and flushed a bit – her instincts had done her a _damn_ good turn when they made her invite her father-in-law to meet her pack. As well, her thoughts from when she met him were correct; Toga was utterly incorrigible and incredibly likeable. Her forgiveness would have been earned just by his completely sincere apology, but forgiveness had turned into genuine affection when he accepted his son for who he was. Not that he needed to know that, vain yōkai that he was.

Sess agreed with her _fully_ on that item. “ _Definitely not, his head is inflated enough as it is, there is no need to swell it more with praise or approval of his actions beyond what is polite._ ”

Smiling, Kagome gestured forwards with a comment of, “When we return, please allow this Kagome to formally welcome you into our camp with a chabako temae tea ceremony, Toga.”

The traditional “outdoors ritual” tea ceremony was something she had easily goaded her grandfather into teaching her at the beginning of their first formal alliance with Sesshōmaru (not that she learned it well enough to use it before Naraku was dead) – and, because despite his eccentricities, he sometimes _knew_ things, he had promptly swindled her into learning the rest of the traditional tea ceremonies as well; which had stood her in good stead a few times whilst they were in the court shiro. Knowing how to find or make suitable flower arrangements, making or picking out the calligraphy scrolls essential to the ceremony before the kaiseki (the formal meal involved in indoor tea ceremonies – and, when scheduled ahead of time, outdoor ceremonies as well, meaning in her time it was demanded at _all_ formal tea ceremonies), serving people in the correct order, knowing what courses came when, being involved in _preparing_ the meal, even if only by directing the preparations, all those things were necessary to welcoming special guests in both ningen and yōkai cultures.

Plus with her _second_ alliance with Sesshōmaru, being able to do _without_ those things and perform the basic outdoor ceremony in a formal, but simplified, manner had been a highly welcome skill. Kagome could perform both full chaji and simplified chakai, make the thick koicha and thin usucha with equal ease, and had firm, steady hands that could pour for half a dozen people before she needed to rest. As the nature with which formal tea ceremonies were performed meant they never involved more than that many people, she was perfectly suited for it.

Even though it wasn't typical in her time – or, for ningen, in this time, either – she would be performing this ceremony _only_ for Toga, as a method of welcoming him into their temporary home; yōkai culture differed from ningen culture in that way. With tea ceremonies designed to welcome guests into the home, _only_ the guests were served tea in the ceremony; the residents within the roomor area either had tea already made for their consumption, did not consume at all, or had servants bring them tea at the appropriate time.

The rest of her family would distract themselves while she did her thing, and then formally introduce themselves to him, as their “honoured father” – grandfather, for her kit and pup.

Excepting the title that Toga had, this had been done before.

Toga looked pleasantly surprised with her decision – since he had seen many of her memories, three of which included tea ceremonies, he knew she could perform, and well, but had obviously not been expecting the formality; although he clearly appreciated it. “Thank you kindly, daughter. Tea would be perfect right now, especially as it is still cool out.”

It was at that; March was still part of the cool “ro” season that made up half of the year. The other half was the warm “furo” season that began in May, which had a different slant to the performance of the ceremony; especially with indoor temae. However, in this era, the rituals were only affected by the seasons amongst the nobles; even then, more frequently yōkai than ningen. After all, sunken hearths were not very common, _or_ easily designed and manufactured. Yōkai had magic and yōki aiding them there; eventually ningen would catch up with technology, but not for some time yet. For the most part, braziers or fire pits were solely responsible for heating the water for the matcha to be mixed into.

Despite her decision, Toga was still being incredibly informal with her; which she really enjoyed. She liked formality, but not _regularly_ or _frequently_. Her entire pack, despite all being noble by adoption, were incredibly informal except when it was otherwise necessary; they _knew_ what to do, but they didn't live their lives as most of the court nobles did, since the entire family was to help their Lord rule his lands the traditional way – by physical presence keeping order and rules in place.

Granted, right now they weren't in the Western Lands, but he'd arranged for patrols; it didn't have to be _his_ presence, after all, just the presence of someone(s) representing him. His soldiers were honourable and would definitely do whilst they were out shard-hunting.

Suddenly her instincts went on high alert and her mate sighed in a way that said he did _not appreciate_ what was about to happen – Toga turned around and gave her a _L_ _ook_ , before asking, “By the way; how is it that you have not been pupped yet? It seems quite inconceivable as both my daughter and my son are incredibly fertile, and obviously _frequently_ manage to attend pleasure with each other despite the presence of their pack.”

Kagome was _not_ going to ask **how** Sess had realised what was coming, but she laughed into the cool air, shaking her head at his lack of amusement with the line of questioning. Silly Sesshōmaru. And really, this was inevitable. Toga was an adult male, after all, and probably wanted to be a grandfather to many, _many_ pups. To be honest, if he hadn't been yōkai, canine, and related, his query and comment would have been unbelievably and _horrifically_ rude. However, all yōkai had enhanced senses – they would be able to smell her fertility, unlike ningen, for whom asking something as delicate as why someone hadn't been impregnated was a hotbed of trouble, because if they or their partner _were_ infertile, you would be bringing up something highly looked down upon or painful; if not both. And if they were fertile, there could be other problems going on, such as miscarriages, which were incredibly common in this day and age; not to mention maybe the female _was_ pregnant already and keeping it for a surprise.

As to the remark about sex; well, it depended on the yōkai breed in question, but among _all_ yōkai, remarks about the body were much more open, natural, and unashamed. Yes, some cultures were nearly as reserved as ningen were, but definitely not most beast yōkai. And canines and their relatives especially were incredibly forthcoming about things like sex—mostly because it was absurdly easy to scent intimacy with a canine, vulpine, or lupine nose, seriously – as well as the emotions of the couple in question with regard to said intimacy. Toga _knew_ that neither of them were ashamed or embarrassed by their sex (although at the beginning, almost a year ago, Kagome would have been utterly and completely mortified by this line of questioning happening so close to the deed – she really would have been  beyond embarrassed), and that pretty much the entire camp knew of what was going on between them, although to the children it was just “mushy stuff”, and to Kohaku they were just bonding.

However, that comment about how obvious it was that they had sex _often_ was only allowable because he was family; other yōkai could only politely mention that they'd done so recently and _very_ gladly.

Kagome had learned a _lot_ from her various yōkai friends. and especially from her lessons with Sesshōmaru (and, more recently, Byakuya, who had joined her lessons. Kohaku was thinking about joining in the lessons, too).

“It is because of choice. This Kagome, due to the nature of how the Shikon has affected her body, can choose when she will be pupped. As her duty of gathering the shards and then making a wish to force the jewel back into her body is not over yet, she does not wish to have children right at this moment. In addition to that, there are also Rin and Shippō to consider, we may not have pups for quite a few more decades, until Shippō is old enough to help raise them in a more adult manner. Yes, we have Kohaku, Byakuya, and Roku to help raise our pups, but I fully intend on having more than just one child at a time, and with their bloodline, they will be most difficult to handle. Besides, our pack may be drastically changed by then; members may have found mates or decided to go on a journey, we may have far more people in it, or who knows what. So, yeah. No pups yet, you gotta wait to be a biological granddad, Toga.”

He _pouted_ (seriously? What the fuck, he was not a child; how the shit did he manage to make that _adorable_ instead of disturbing?), before grinning and turning back around with a wave of his hand and a faux-despondent sigh, suddenly dropping back behind them. Ah, they were nearing camp. “Oh well, I'll just have to wait, then, and spoil my existing grandpups; certainly won't be getting any grandpups from the whelp any time soon, even once he learns his lesson.”

Sesshōmaru scoffed at that, “Definitely not; this one thinks that even with your interference, Inuyasha will probably be too obsessed with his past to move on to the future for the next several decades. At the very least – we will be incredibly lucky if he wakes up before half a century has passed; personally, this Sesshōmaru believes several decades more than that will likely pass before the obsession can pass – it was his first love, he was willing to change his entire existence just because she wanted him to, and he very recently came back face-to-face with her again because she somewhat came back to life.”

Toga looked surprised at that when Kagome looked at him, before Kagome gently reminded him, “Even though I was _right there_ , doted upon him, loved him, was loyal and faithful to him, and most importantly, was alive, he still chased after the Kikyō-golem, because he is completely obsessed with her. After his actions towards me I do not believe he has ever truly loved me solely for myself; a rather significant part of that love has always been there because he believes me to be Kikyō's reincarnation, or he would not have been so infuriated by my having more powers and abilities than her.

“In the dojo he only said that about the Shikon itself to hurt me, he _knows_ that the shards give me no additional power and that even if they did I would never use them; similarly, he could never explain away my _dreams_ and so despised them because Kikyō never had them. Kikyō has admitted to me that she never truly loved him or she would not have wanted him to change, and is incredibly saddened both by how he treated me and how obsessed he is with her. We are very good friends now thanks to the _dreams_ we meet in, although I am looking forward to finding her reincarnation when she appears and befriending her in person.”

Her father-in-law hummed thoughtfully, if she recognised that sound like she thought she did – Sess had made it several times when teaching her and trying to combat her issues of self-worth – he was probably frowning as well. Kagome looked to the side of Sess' mokomoko again and sure enough, he was frowning, probably trying to figure out how to _cure_ that obsession. She silently wished him luck, both sarcastically and genuinely, even as her mate chuckled into her mind at how contradictory she sometimes was. She stuck her tongue out at him and he bit it with a smirk, making her flush lightly and wish desperately that they were alone. “ _Dammit why did we decide to come back early, anyway?_ _That was a stupid decision._ ”

“ _Because we were gone for two days previous to this_ _retreat_.”

“ _Dammit. Stupid logic. Oh well, we can deal with it_.”

Thankfully her father was lost in thought so he couldn't make fun of her.

Sure enough, Toga dropping behind had definitely been good, as soon they walked into the camp and were rushed by the children; the adults (which Kohaku, despite his age of only 14, definitely qualified as much of the time, due to his experiences and intense maturity) walking towards them more sedately, although no less happily. It _had_ been three days, after all, and really, the only reason Kagome had not been sick with missing them was because Sesshō had kept her _quite_ _a_ _bit_ too busy to miss anybody or anything.

He'd done that the first time she ever had a strong fertile cycle, too, come to think about it.

The only reason they even knew that she would go into heat and have strong fertile cycles had been a discreet comment from Bokusenō-sama before they left to go to Edo, after introducing him to Kohaku once the taijiya had joined their group. Sesshōmaru said that as they gained new group members who were travelling with them, as soon as possible they would be introduced to the old tree, because he was a good judge of character when faced with someone in person. Anyway, he had said something, leading Sesshōmaru to distract the others so that Kagome could speak with him about the comment. She'd been both intrigued and displeased with the realisation – intrigued because she'd always wondered what being in heat was like, and because she eventually wanted children—a strong fertile cycle was a blessing for that—but displeased because she now had _no choice_ in the matter.

Rrrr, but the Kami frustrated her sometimes.

Someone tugged on her trailing sleeve, and she silently asked her mate to put her down. Upon his complying with her request, she knelt and hugged her children to her, who squealed happily that yay, she was back!

Then she went about greeting the rest of her pack. As soon as she was about to invite Toga into the clearing and perform chabako temae for him, however, Jaken flew in on Ah-Un; growling aggravatedly, she used her incredible patience to allow the stupid little _toad_ to greet her mate and hand him a package.

Okay, Kagome couldn't be that mad after all, leading her mate to laugh again and mentally comment to her that yōkai or ningen, all women loved clothes.

In her experience, it was true. Even Ayame had a fondness for dressing up, and she wore _fur_. Not the kind that wealthy women in Kagome's original era wore, either.

Out of the package came two individually wrapped bundles, each tied together with a silk ribbon – meant for pulling hair back into ponytails, which was an incredibly thoughtful gesture on the part of whoever made the clothes for their pack. Especially when ribbons obviously meant for other members of their pack fell out in a bundle following the two packages. The colour of each ribbon signified who each package was to go to; the plum ribbon went to Byakuya, and the slate grey ribbon went to Kohaku. Each male, as soon as they untied their bundles, replaced the ties in their hair with the ribbons, wrapping them around the ponytails several times before knotting the thin silk. The rest of the pack members used their new ribbons similarly, although Kagome and Sesshōmaru just folded their ribbons up since they didn't wear ponytails frequently.

Then the clothes were revealed, and they were _perfect_.

Kohaku's outfit had patterns the exact same aqua as the trim on his taijiya outfit (which, it turned out, was essentially magic – it seemed to be the same as yōkai travel-outfits, except ningen made—maybe—and simply appeared when he pulled off his clothes for fighting). In deference to his heritage and the ease with which he needed to be able to remove his clothing – despite not living with them, he wanted to be _recognised_ as a taijiya so that people would trust him – his outfit was somewhat simpler than the rest of theirs, consisting of hanjuban, obi, and haori alone. Their haori were knee-length, as were the hanjuban, so it was still a respectable length for an adult without the hakama.

His obi was the same slate grey as the ribbon, and without a word he smiled, bowed, and ran off to change into his new outfit – Kohaku clearly enjoyed this tangible evidence that he was their pack-brother. The crescent upon his forehead had not been enough for him, not after the loss of his blood family. Within the hexagons patterning his haori were Cypress leaves – completely and wholly suitable for him, as Cypress signified understanding the meaning of sacrifice. It was absolutely perfect, not too depressing, and something that would easily be a part of his soul for his whole life.

Byakuya's outfit was patterned in a soft baby blue, with the obi being plum as was his ribbon. He had the typical outfit of their group, as expected, and he was incredibly pleased when he saw the detail that had gone into the Bonsai branches he had insisted upon. The meaning did fit him well; for all his new youth, and his flamboyance and etiquette, despite his age changes, Byakuya simply exuded a calm peace and balance that affected the entire group. Especially when he meditated – he did so most often during their afternoon naps now, because his aura tended to make them all sleepy when he meditated, only Kagome and Sesshōmaru being able to resist his unintentional effects.

Well, and now that he was around, probably Toga as well.

It made Kagome incredibly thankful that the yōkai had never put in any effort into doing what Naraku told him to do – the Inutachi would _definite_ _ly_ all be  deadif he'd actually tried to help Naraku beyond being a scout of sorts. Maybe even Sess, although she rather doubted it; his instincts were incredibly well-honed and it was likely that before he got the chance to be killed he would just push through the illusion.

On the other hand, Byakuya did make an _incredible_ scout, and honestly enjoyed the pastime; not as work but as play. He usually did it for them just for the hell of it, and sometimes tricked them when he did so.

Kagome adored him but he was practically kitsune, and not to be trusted, even though he was wholly loyal, faithful, and trustworthy – just because he was trustworthy didn't make him less of a trickster, which was completely contradictory with his aura. Still; it suited him, and he was making a _great_ teacher and friend for Shippō.

He went off to change into his outfit just as Kohaku came back, looking utterly adorable in his haori; somehow he looked younger and more innocent in white than he did in black, but he didn't mind that, Kagome knew that he wanted to be treated as less adult when he was just with the pack relaxing, because he'd had to grow up so fast. The pack's Kohaku was a boy who had witnessed terrible things; the taijiya Kohaku was a man who had _done_ terrible things under mind-control.

Most of the members of their band had distinct personalities that had visibly different facets to them depending on what they were doing or who they were around. Kagome enjoyed that because it made them more _real_ , somehow, then the single-sided personalities she'd dealt with in the very beginning of her first year here. Kohaku's life had changed Sango from a woman with single-minded determination to kill the being who murdered her family into a woman who wanted to save her brother, get revenge, rebuild her village, and settle down.

Miroku had become far more than just a lecherous monk when he became a mentor and friend to Kagome and Shippō; as well as when he was pursuing Sango, he had become dedicated and romantic. He was no less dedicated now, to the pack and Kagome specifically, and although romance was not in the picture at the moment, Kagome was looking forward to the day it would be. He was loyal, friendly, wise, and kept secrets without you even realising they were known. He was the first person to know anything going on in the pack, just as he had been in her previous pack, and usually pulled her or Sess aside to give them advice about things or drop hints that led to them being able to deal with problems as they came up – in a way that did _not_ betray any confidences or things he knew that he shouldn't, by all rights, be aware of. Even though he didn't want the responsibility and never used his position, Miroku was the true beta in this pack – Kohaku and Byakuya just rented the position from him most of the time.

Despite being a complete trickster, Byakuya was a supreme confidant and great to just talk to about anything and everything. He was also like a sponge, absorbing knowledge and information from everyone who offered it to him; since he was created and had no idea of most of the things he should know, he had taken Sesshōmaru up on his offer of lessons about general yōkai culture, as well as moth culture, inu culture, and interpreting his instincts – _both ways_ – and those were going swimmingly. Kagome had joined in with those lessons after they reached the point she had come to at the shiro, because if she was to be Lady of the West she would need to know these things. Kohaku had known much of the information but was considering joining them to make his knowledge more complete.

Byakuya also had an insane imagination and Kagome had **vowed** to never, _ever_ talk about the future around him any more because the one time she had done so had been a completely chaotic disaster the next day. Kagome was pretty sure that if she didn't have so much fortitude the possible moth yōkai would have given her nightmares with his illusions. They weren't even _scary_ , they were just that weird.

Byakuya was a little bit on the unstable side; but they all kept a watch on his more dangerous tendencies and kept him in line – he appreciated it, too, because he wasn't unstable on purpose; he was just that way out of ignorance. They were constantly helping him learn how to be a bit more normal and stable and _sane_. So far it wasn't helping as much as Kagome liked – her instincts kept niggling at her and wondering why he seemed to be getting _worse_ , but she couldn't _do_ anything about it.

Kagome hadn't thought about the consequences of her accidental action with Seimei until Byakuya's first accident; but since he was the only actual physical adult amongst the three incarnations she'd returned, he was the one she thought had the worst consequences. The servants and workers would raise Kagura and Kanna properly – Byakuya needed caretakers that wouldn't raise him; but teach him instead.

Sess' pack was _perfect_ for him. He was a great cousin. Although, he was a brother to the other adults (except Kohaku; who just viewed him as his absolute closest friend besides Mamoru), including Sess. Kagome still called him her cousin because he _still_ alternated between big brother and little brother. Probably—definitely—on purpose, the ass.

Then there was Kohaku, who was, surprisingly – considering how his self-trust issues manifested – the one who most frequently took Byakuya in hand when he had an accident or fuck up; knowing Naraku's mind gave him an insight into how to calm things down and he was the one they went to when they needed help with various twisted things. Naraku had actually left a _lot_ of nests and traps behind when he died, and Kohaku usually led the parties into those places and showed them how to disable things or told them what to expect and stuff like that. He was serious, hard working, smart as all hell, had a deep understanding of evil that made him dangerous to try and fuck with, and, when he was the pack's Kohaku, was a complete and utter sweetheart who did his absolute best to help people be happy and make the day brighter.

He got along _great_ with Rin and Shippō; the three of them often played harmless pranks on the pack. Harmless they may be; but those pranks usually took half the damn day to unravel. Not that it was actually a problem – they weren't in a rush after all.

Kagome knew for a _fact_ that Byakuya helped with at least half their pranks – not in the making of the pranks themselves, but in making them so damned difficult to dispel. Oh well – Kagome actually _liked_ having flowers sprinkled in her waist-length hair; and even though the men had grumbled, they had all looked _incredibly_ fetching that way....

Oh, _man_ – an idea flashed into Kagome's mind and she had Sess put up a barrier, whispering to Rin and Shippō, “Do the flowers tomorrow – I want to see what Toga looks like with his long ponytail like that, don't _you_?”

Rin gasped and covered her mouth, eyes shining as she nodded and took Shippō's hand, the both of them running to Kohaku and beginning to plan; one of Shippō's tricky little barriers that made it seem like they were babbling nonsense up and running. Byakuya discreetly sat near them, Roku coming to sit beside him and to chatter with him; probably trying to figure out what the kids were working on now to see if he should help them out or not. Shippō's barriers held up to even daiyōkai senses, but not to _Byakuya_.

The barrier she'd asked for went down and Kagome watched the children for a moment. Rin had changed from her single-minded obsession with Sesshōmaru; although she still loved and trusted him wholly and unconditionally. She knew the languages of flowers, plants, and trees, was learning to perform tea ceremonies from Kagome herself, was an _excellent_ hostess, knew yōkai culture in and out, had an instinctive understanding of people's hearts, and made friends with everyone she came into contact with; even yōkai or ningen who hated her generally ended up being drawn to the purity of her soul.

She made a great contrast to Shippō with her calm seriousness that invaded even her innocent joy. He, on the other hand, was hyperactive; a bundle of energy that was dedicated, dangerously intelligent, tricky, a unique mixture of mature and immature simultaneously, and totally playful. Making himself mature a little faster in order to help them fight Naraku had definitely affected him; but Sesshōmaru had actually known how to _reverse_ the effects of a forced maturation, via a yōki-powered ritual, so while Shippō had the knowledge and memories of his time with Naraku, as well as the extra intelligence, his emotional state was back to that of a relatively innocent seven year old.  Relatively because he was still _kitsune_ and that made a **huge** difference. Not just because his thought processes were different but because kitsune were inherently wise no matter their age – it hadn't been his maturation that made him the one making everyone in the group realise important things about situations; it had just been in his blood.

Kagome smiled happily at her pack before letting her mate help her up from her crouch, holding her hand delicately and not distracting her from her thoughts; he knew that she was doing a bit of meditation on her family to help keep her calm before she welcomed a new member into the pack.

She couldn't even _begin_ to describe her beloved – the only people who would ever truly know Lord Sesshōmaru, Lord of the Western Lands of Nihon, were his pack and those people who saw some important things from Bokusenō-sama. The latter still wouldn't truly know him, just know a little _more_ than the court and his people did. Although with all of Kagome's adopted family in these lands, more and more people were becoming extended-pack and seeing a little of the sides he would not show others. Still; that was only the smallest facet of all the intricacies of his mind, body and soul. Kagome thought that never had there been a more complex creature than her beloved – and she adored it.

“ _You, my koishi, are far more complicated and deep than this Sesshōmaru is; you simply do not give yourself credit where it is due because you frequently wear your heart on your haori. Now, come, it has been enough time; this one's father is waiting._ ”

She sighed and nodded, pulling him down for a kiss before walking over to where she sensed her father-in-law. She kept herself steady and calm, a soft smile on her face as she gave the great daiyōkai a deep bow from the waist, her inky hair falling over her shoulders and obscuring her face momentarily before she straightened up. “This Kagome would formally invite Toga, the Inu no Taishō of the Western Lands of Nihon, and her honoured father, to join with her family and make camp with us until his business here is completed; whenever that may be.”

The way she phrased that was far more than the limited scope it seemed – it was an open invitation for him to join them whenever he wanted at least until Inuyasha was fully matured; and by then he would probably be far more than just partial-pack. He was closer tied, being blood family, than extended-pack merited, but he wasn't fully pack yet; because he was no longer alpha – Sesshōmaru was, and Toga had respected that deeply by lowering himself to admit his pride in his eldest son. Toga stepped forward, giving her an equally deep bow as she tilted her head, awaiting his response. “This Toga gratefully and happily accepts Kagome of the Western Lands, and his daughter's, invitation, and thanks her for it from the bottom of his heart.”

Less formal, but utterly sweet and honest; as well as a touch irreverent. It would do. “Come, then, please allow this Kagome to serve you tea.”

He wasn't required to respond, and he didn't, instead obediently following her and sitting where she directed. She dug her boxedset of chadogu (equipment) out of her pack – no longer that yellow monstrosity, instead yōkai-made travel packs that held far more than their size would indicate and lightened the weight of anything placed into them. Then she pulled out her tea kettle – cast iron, courtesy of her mama, like all her other camping supplies – and walked to the stream that fed the clear spring on the opposite side of the clearing, filled the kettle up, and hung it over the already-made fire. Kagome thought that Sesshōmaru had directed Jaken to prepare it for her so she had less to do, which was wonderful of him.

Once the kettle was over the fire, Kagome filled a bowl with water and ritually cleansed all of the items in her set with smooth, specific motions that were part and parcel with her own temae. First the chawan (bowls for preparing the tea).Then the two tea bowls for drinking from: one for koicha (thick tea) and one for usucha (thin tea); she was breaking from tradition for simplicity's sake, because there was only one person drinking the tea, and thus no need for a full chawan of koicha to be passed around to and shared between each guest. She would make a single portion of koicha, and a single portion of usucha; each in their respective chawan, and then served in their respective tea bowls.

Next she washed the chashaku (tea scoop) – she had four different ones, and only needed the smallest today. Finally she cleaned the chasen (tea whisk), _extremely_ carefully, in deference to its fragility. The chasen, chashaku, and regular tea bowls were cleansed and dried with a simple thin towel. The chawan, however, were properly wiped down with a linen chakin (tea cloth).

The natsume (tea caddy) did not need to be cleaned or wiped down, merely set to the side so that the matcha (green tea powder) could be scooped from it with ease. Her other items were placed on the flat stone that she had sat Toga in front of – both chawan on the left, chasen beside the chashaku on a cloth in the middle, and drinking bowls on the right; it might make more sense, display-wise, to have the drinking bowls in the middle, but that made preparing the matcha stupidly difficult in order to keep from getting matcha or tea in the tea bowls, and so for simplicity's sake she laid her tools out this way when she was doing an outdoor ceremony with only one person.

With more than one person, each being had their _own_ stone in which their tea bowl got placed on. Kagome, however, when serving one person, actually _served_ that being; handing them the bowls was a show of trust: claws could harm, after all, and even ningen could break a wrist (although, admittedly, not _her_ wrist). It was a gesture of respect that Kagome felt, as a hostess, to be absolutely necessary.

Sometimes even with multiple people she still served them their tea like that – simply seating them far enough away from their bowl that they could not reach it on their own until they had it in hand to place it closer on the stone; thus allowing her to hand them their drink.

There weren't actually set protocols for the situation they were in, so Kagome was allowed some artistic license with how she performed her chabako temae; but always asking Grandpa _and_ Sesshōmaru whether or not her ideas held any merit and only adding them in if she got a positive from  both people. Her grandpa had actually had the dubious honour of being forced to play guinea pig so she could _show_ him how she intended to implement her ideas and add them into her own personal temae for her camping chabako ceremony; surprisingly enough, he enjoyed the trips out into the deep woods behind their shrine, and the simplicity to everything that mixed with more complex undertones.

By the time she was finished cleansing her items in her own specific manner, the water was about halfway heated up. She still wasn't done with the rinse water though; when serving one person Kagome always, _always_ replaced the water in her cleansing bowl after the first washing, when they were camping. So she bowed her head, then grabbed the washing bowl, dumped the water out onto some random bush, and re-filled her bowl, easily and smoothly carrying it back to her spot and placing it down without so much as a single droplet escaping the container.

Now it was time for the part that Kagome still had some trouble with; she'd never been very good with small talk, _ugh_. In more formal indoor situations, this part and the serving of the koicha required only a few formal comments exchanged between her and the most important guest; however, in the Sengoku Jidai, when outside, the rules were _different_ – actually so, not just Kagome's kind of difference.

Luckily for her, Toga seemed more than willing to take over here, immediately commenting once she had seated herself seiza once again, “This Toga is more than impressed with your temae so far, Kagome. They are sensible, straightforward, and gracefully carried out. You perform as if you have been doing so for all your eighteen plus years. Your movements are steady, smooth, unhurried, and simple, you are meticulous with not only the cleansing, but even going so far as to evenly space each item you use exactly and perfectly. The way you set them up is precisely how it should be, rather than geared towards impressing your guest. So far, this Toga finds your chabako temae beyond impeccable, and is honoured with the gift of your service, hostess Kagome, daughter-mine.”

Sess chuckled deeply into her mind as she flushed as red as a cranberry from such an _insanely detailed_ compliment of her  supposed skills. She was making half this shit up as she went along! Granted; with thought and time, but even so! Sesshōmaru was about to chide her, she could tell, when Toga spoke up again, his eyes sparkling mirthfully but with a deep seriousness that immediately made Kagome turn her attention fully towards him and listen. “It takes not only gracefulness and imagination to create your own temae for such a unique situation, but strength of character and courage to follow through with your decisions. Do not discount your achievement or belittle yourself, Kagome, especially considering how little time you have been performing tea ceremonies. Not only will your mate and pack not stand for it, your _father_ will not stand for it either.”

Dammit, Kagome couldn't even call him out for pulling rank – she had invited him into camp as her father and thus, even though he was not _the_ alpha, he was _an_ alpha; one with a far longer history and higher rank than she had. So instead she bowed her head, biting her lip a little, and stayed still; a sign that she was obeying him and thinking over his words seriously, rather than dismissing them out of hand as she had initially been going to do. Her mate rumbled with approval in the back of her mind and aided her with his own comments – and by showing her memories they shared with each other of her trying things out, refining them, cementing ideas, checking movements in a mirror to see if they were smooth and fluid like she intended them to be. Practising movements just as thoroughly as she did her kata, and as often.

It was true that despite being made up as she went along, she truly did put a significant amount of thought into each addition to her temae – it had gotten to the point that Rin had literally demanded that her Mama both teach her the traditional chabako temae, and “Mama's better chabako temae!” It had been amusing, but maybe her smart little daughter had a point.

“ _She does, Kagome. Listen to Father; he makes a point that you do not listen to often enough: both your Grandfather and I,_ _and_ _now Rin and Toga, feel that your personal chabako temae is far superior to what is traditional._ _T_ _his Sesshōmaru believes wholly so, but at the very least for our_ _unique_ _situation that is the unembellished truth._ ”

Kagome sighed softly and accepted that they were only being completely honest in their thoughts, and that she was being incredibly rude to disbelieve them – as well as allowing her past to control her, both of which were completely unacceptable.

Finally she responded. “Thank you kindly for the compliment – and for opening this Kagome's eyes, honoured father. This Kagome sincerely apologises for the insult of her doubt.”

Toga waved off her apology with a smile, “You are welcome.”

The water would be ready by now, so Kagome stood up to grab her silicon pot holder so that the handle of her teapot didn't burn her.

Now the ceremony was in full swing.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** **Please read last chapter's A/N if you haven't already.** It explains why there are differences at all, even though I do my own explaining in the chapter as well, to an extent. And just to let you know, **the tea ceremony does not last the whole chapter**. Thank you kindly.

**A glossary of terms.**

Chadogu: tea equipment

Chabako: slightly confusing; both a name for the box in which a tea set is kept in for outdoor use, and the name for the outdoor tea ceremonies.

Temae: rituals for the tea ceremonies, which are wide and varied and incredibly specific to each kind of ceremony, despite there likely being at least a dozen different temae for each type of ceremony, due to different schools of teaching. That is why I was so comfortable having Kagome effectively create her own temae; there are already so many differing ones to begin with.

Chawan: mixing bowls for tea; the different types (as well as both “seasons”) have different bowls.

Chashaku: bamboo tea scoop

Chasen: bamboo tea whisk

Chakin: linen or hemp cloth square for wiping down the chawan – tea cloth

Natsume: tea caddy for holding the matcha

Matcha: powdered green tea of varying quality; Kagome consistently uses the best at all times, which is not usual; generally koicha is high quality, usucha is lower quality.

Koicha: thick tea

Usucha: thin tea

Chaji: a tea ceremony in which both koicha and usucha are served.

Chakai: a more simplified tea ceremony in which usually only usucha is served.

Cha obviously means “tea”, xD

Ro: name for the “cool” season that makes up half the year, from November to April

Furo: name for the “warm” season that makes up half the year, from May to October

Wagashi: Japanese sweets made almost exclusively from plant-based materials such as sugar, rice flour, anko (azuki bean paste), and fruits, sometimes nuts as well.

Higashi: a drier, longer-lasting type of wagashi made almost solely with plant-based flour (rice, pea, and azuki bean, to name a few types) and certain kinds of sugar, with a small portion of the ingredients being additives for flavouring, as far as I can tell – probably natural additives, considering that it is a type of wagashi, but it isn't specified where I learned. The differing types of higashi are defined by the exact kinds of flour and sugar involved in creating them. I don't really go into that here, as it is not an important part of this chapter or this fanfic.

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Kagome took a small breath, exhaled, and poured the water into her koicha chawan, then set the teapot down on the ground next to the stone. Next she picked up her chashaku, opening her natsume and putting three scoops of matcha into the thicker, deeper, ro season-specific koicha chawan. She closed her natsume and placed the chashaku back onto the cloth it had been resting on; the cloth would be washed after the ceremony, and was there as much to catch the matcha powder from the chashaku and the liquid from the chasen as it was to prevent anything from dirtying her cleansed implements.

Again – in the wilderness, convenience and ease was more important. Using another cleansing bowl when only serving one person would be wasteful of water. In yōkai culture, it was horribly rude to depart from this point on until the ceremony was finished completely (ningen differed here; it was expected for the hostess to leave between the koicha and usucha portions – assuming koicha was being served because it was a chaji ceremony instead of a simplified chakai ceremony – and return with a new chawan and the cleansed implements from the koicha for the more relaxed making of the usucha), so she couldn't just use the same cleansing bowl and empty it again after cleansing them, then re-fill it for the final cleansing before re-packing.

There was no _point_ to using _two_ of each implement,  especially when the chasen could only be used for one ceremony before having to be put aside (they wore down _very_ fast), and it just made more _sense_ to do things how she did. Definitely not in a ceremony for several people, or maybe even just one person if she had a long time to prepare for it, but with something short-notice and single-person, it was simply easier; especially because it was less than two minutes between serving the koicha and beginning to prepare the usucha the way yōkai did things and with a chabako temae. Toga was looking on with approval; so she supposed it was still more than acceptable to the older daiyōkai.

In scheduled, multi-person chabako ceremonies, she simply used three cleansing bowls, and did not leave her position except to fetch the kettle and serve the tea; but not in a situation such as this one.

Now that the matcha was in the chawan, she picked up her chasen, the traditional, fragile bamboo whisk, and began steadily _folding_ the matcha into the water. There was a specific way to mix the different teas, and they had to be done carefully or the quality would be inferior. In fact, were it not for her ability to dispel liquid with reiki, finally accomplished four moons ago, she would _have_ to use two cleansing bowls for single-person ceremonies, because it would not do to have any of the thick koicha tea mixing in with the making of the thin usucha tea. However, she would show Toga – who looked curiously at the chasen now, probably just realising what she was thinking about and trying to figure out how she would get around it without being rude – just exactly why she could get away with this, once she served him his koicha.

If she was feeling flashy, she usually cleaned her chasen this way even in a multi-person chabako ceremony, before ritually cleansing it with water, because it was impressive and that spoke a _lot_ to both yōkai and ningen alike. Once she learned how to contain it, she'd begin doing so in indoor ceremonies as well. With single-person ones, though, she did no second cleansing with water between the koicha and usucha portions; that would be  wasteful. (It still was anyhow, but ceremony was ceremony; sigh.)

And the koicha was about ready now, so she kneaded the tea a few more times, before laying the chasen down onto its cloth, pouring the incredibly thick koicha into the deeper tea bowl, and handing it forward to her guest. Toga took it solemnly, sipped it immediately, and gave her a winning smile, “Your koicha is absolutely perfect; and tastes especially delicious on a nice, cool day such as this one, Kagome.”

Then Kagome did a little bit of shameless showing off, because she really _was_ proud of being able to do this – it was an incredibly delicate and complex piece of work so as not to damage the chasen further than the koicha mixing had already done. Kagome lifted up the chasen, moving it to the side over empty grass, and whipped a small amount of strictly controlled and specifically modified reiki at the chasen, immediately not only drying and cleansing, but _strengthening_ the chasen as well; simultaneously, even. She could only do this outside; the liquid dispelled into the grass below, and she hadn't learned how to make it dissipate completely or otherwise contain it yet. It'd taken her two whole moons after finally being able to dispel liquid for her to be able to have such control over it – it would take many more to perfect her control even further.

That _always_ impressed people; especially yōkai, who were not aware that any ningen could use reiki the same way that yōkai used their yōki. Ningen tended to assume it was magic, which Kagome didn't have – she only had her imagination and a yōkai level of control over both her reiki and her miko-ki; which meant an enormous and incredibly intricate amount of control and an impossible amount of possibilities for reiki use. Sesshōmaru was barely holding back his laughter at the rather shocked and _incredibly_ impressed look that his father had on his face. However, Toga recovered quickly with a smirk and a raised eyebrow – so _that_ was where those came from; Kagome should have known as much – obviously silently congratulating her on both the show and on impressing him. He didn't say anything, however, simply continuing to sip at the koicha as she began preparing the usucha. It was rude for them to talk after his compliment until it was time for him to drink the usucha.

Hot water poured into the shallower and thinner (although still thicker than a furo season usucha chawan would be) usucha chawan, one scoop of matcha poured into the water, and the chasen dipped into the chawan, smoothly and rapidly whisking the tea into the hot water. Because her kettle was cast iron, it kept the water at the perfect temperature for much longer than the containers generally used by ningen in this era to hold the heated liquid; leading to the water having to be reheated after the koicha was made in ningen ceremonies. Yōkai used containers that held the heat in, although those were yōki-infused, due to another culture difference that made wasting time between preparing the koicha and the usucha intolerable.

Kagome thought that yōkai were just impatient to get to the less formal usucha portion, but would not say so to anyone but Sess and probably eventually Toga. Her father (it was getting harder to think of him as an in-law; probably in part because he treated her like a beloved daughter, and partly because her own father was dead and she _missed_ fatherly affection) would doubtless find her suspicion to be as accurate as her mate had; and probably find even more humour in her bold accusation.

By the time she finished mixing the usucha, Toga was finished with his koicha, and sedately holding his tea bowl. Once she set the chasen down once more and poured the usucha into the smaller tea bowl, she placed the chawan down where it had previously been ( _exactly_ so, not that she realised) next to the koicha chawan, extended her hands to take the koicha tea bowl from Toga, set _that_ down where it had been before, and then finally handed him his usucha. He took his first sip and smiled at her again, nodding firmly, “Yes, your tea is most excellent, Kagome. This Toga feels honoured to have you performing for him in such a way.”

She smiled at him, then bowed her head lightly, “This Kagome laments that she does not have any higashi, wagashi, or other confections to serve with the usucha and before the koicha, but we attempt to keep the children and younger siblings from having too many sweets, mostly to save their teeth – although Shippō and Byakuya don't have to worry about that, being yōkai, Rin and Kohaku _do_ and it would be unfair for them not to all receive the same treatment when it comes to such things. If lessons are completed and they have been relatively well behaved, they get sweets twice weekly. This Kagome makes them upon deciding that her pack has earned them.

“Unfortunately the tooth-cleansing pastes and gels in the future are filled with things that would contaminate the water here with too much use, so this Kagome left off using anything more than the cleaning brush alone.”

Actually, confectionery sweets, especially wagashi, weren't even _in existence_ for the most part amongst ningen during this time period; it would be another couple centuries before the creation of wagashi took off amongst ningen. However, _yōkai_ travelled more easily and traded more easily, both culturally and with physical items; as Kagome had found out, the making of such things was very popular amongst them. Kagome suspected that it was  yōkai who made wagashi visible amongst ningen in the Edo period where they began to become common and popular, although she had no real evidence of her thinking. Hell, the only reason she even knew so much about wagashi was because of her research on tea ceremonies and finding out how late, compared to when tea ceremonies began to take shape, the wagashi and higashi were introduced.

He hummed and nodded his head again after taking another slow sip, “You are very wise, Kagome, many ningen would assume that being only a few people, it would do no harm to continue to use such items. This Toga believes that you might just change the world a bit with your presence; or at least, that what you currently experience in the future is engineered so as to hide the true nature of your world from you. Because certainly your intelligence and common sense will spread throughout _both_ cultures – this Toga thinks it highly probable as well that your beautiful soul is part of the reason why your future is so open-minded and accepting.”

Kagome chuckled wryly at that, simultaneously with blushing at the latter compliment and ignoring it thoroughly, “Most likely. I have said so myself that if I were to be in Nihon, or have any say in Nihon, in my time, that I would keep all evidence of yōkai firmly away from myself as I am presently; in no small part because culture will most definitely have significantly changed. But additionally because knowing the future in such a way would cause me to change it, and that is unacceptable; my fate beyond the obvious as the Shikon Miko might be my own, but that means that even interference from my future self is unacceptable.”

“Again, you are incredibly wise and intelligent, Kagome. I am so pleased that fate had you in mind for this quest; my son is happier than he could ever have been without you in his life, he is loved by many people, has a wonderful family, and has given me an amazing daughter in the form of his stunning mate.”

She blushed prettily at the compliment, this time born of pure pleasure; Kagome was not so foolish as to think that her presence in her Sesshō's life had done anything less than completely change it – for the better, at that, and significantly so. Just as he had done for her.

The tea was finished now, and Kagome took back the tea bowl from Toga as he very interestedly looked on; likely wondering how she would go about cleaning her chadogu with only one (admittedly large, but still) bowl of water. She gave him a secret little smile telling him to watch and learn, and soon he saw her cleverness with this part of her temae.

See, even _after_ the final  ritual cleansing of the chadogu, the equipment _still_ had to be washed properly before putting or packing them away. So Kagome could easily, and without breaking any rules, messing with the culture, or even bending things her way, rinse her tools off and then, since the ceremony was then complete, go off elsewhere to wash them properly and pack them away again.

She took the large cleansing bowl and poured water halfway up the sides of each chawan and each tea bowl, before replacing it and rinsing off her chasen and her chashaku rapidly enough that the debris settled to the bottom of the bowl immediately, leaving them properly done. She laid them back on the cloth – in the clean, empty spaces that had been between and to the right of her chasen and chashaku due to her impeccable spacing. Then she took the bowls, one by one, and swirled the water around them over the same area where she had dispelled the koicha from her chasen. Once the water was spilling over the edges, she flipped the bowl over completely, revealing yet another perfectly rinsed item.

Kagome knew _exactly_ what she was doing; she'd  had to in order for her ideas to work.

Once all the tea bowls and chawan were rinsed out, she placed them back where they had been, bowed low to Toga, and gave the closing response to her ceremony, “Thank you for allowing this Kagome to serve you, Father. This Kagome welcomes you into our midst, Toga; please feel free to meet with her family – she hopes you will love them as much as she does.”

“Thank you kindly for your beautiful performance, I look forward to seeing more of your wonderful personality, Kagome.”

Kagome flashed him a smile, then she stacked her chawan and the tea bowls, placed the chashaku and chasen inside the top bowl, placed the items into the large cleansing bowl which now was only half-filled with water, and picked up her cast iron tea kettle, walking over to the stream.

She rinsed out the large bowl, filled it a third of the way with stream-water, and then filled it a third of the way with the hot water from the kettle; using the last of it in the process. In a ceremony with more people, she used not just a larger kettle, but a secondary kettle (she had four, of different sizes; the sizes of the kettle for tea and the kettle for cleansing would depend on the amount of guests), so that her final cleansing was always making her chadogu as clean as possible in this era without contaminating nature.

Once the bowl was two thirds of the way full, she began washing each item, drying it off with either a thin dish towel or the chakin; depending on if it was a chawan or not. Each item was carefully placed into her chabako as it was dried, excepting her chasen, which was _carefully_ put aside for use in her normal and informal use. Chasen were naturally frail, the bamboo unable to hold up to such use for more than three or four times... _U_ _sually_.

Kagome, however, was _special_ , and she had decided that even though she didn't want to be known and _used_ as a healer, she still wanted to heal people... So she infused all of her chasen with reiki in such a way that not only strengthened the bamboo enough to last for a full week or two (sennight or fortnight, as she was more and more frequently coming to use) of regular, daily use, but channelled her healing energy into it so that as she whisked her matcha, healing energy was infused into the liquid. Of course, teas _meant_ for healing, with the proper ningen or yōkai herbs, were even more effective, but Kagome's matcha tea made people feel _better_... And it was getting her  noticed.

In ningen villages she was seen as a powerful, kind, and gentle soul, whose mere presence soothed people's ailments, and whose steady hands would help those in need without asking for payment... Because she had the daiyōkai Western Lord under her control. Oh, _Kami_ it was so damn **hilarious**! Ningen only thought that because, even with regards to this era, Kagome knew the normal, non-nobility ningen culture and habits so much better than Sesshō did that when they were in ningen villages he did whatever she asked, obeyed her without question, and, of course, claimed and protected her from unwanted advances.

Because she allowed such behaviour, and because they thought he was under her thumb, people backed off. But it was still absurd to think that she had _that_ kind of control over her Sess. Yes she did have control over him in many ways, but he had every damn bit as much control over her in other (and sometimes the same) ways.

And as for her “powerful, kind, and gentle soul...” Yeah, she might _seem_ like that at first glance, but she was growing and changing and developing instincts that gave her a very kitsune-like vindictive streak, made her more canine and vulpine – and thus bloodthirsty in her own strange way – and _anybody_ in her pack would let you know that she was irreverent, could use language that would make bandits blush, and was bloody vicious if you even thought about coming near her family without her explicit permission. Even _their alpha_ _male_ wouldn't bring anybody into camp without first allowing Kagome to meet them, because her instincts were impeccable by now (unless someone went way out of their way to hire a sorceress or sorcerer to trick them, which was expensive and unlikely) and everyone had absolutely complete trust in them. If Kagome didn't like someone, instinctively and immediately, that person was led _somewhere else_ by Sesshōmaru, to be dealt with by him and her.

Fittingly enough, yōkai villages were the opposite, speaking about how powerful the daiyōkai Lord of the West was that he had claimed and mated the Shikon Miko, and how she submitted to and obeyed him... All of them failing to realise that willing submission did not always mean loss of power or control, and not even capable of thinking that maybe she just obeyed him unquestioningly because he knew their culture far better than she did and she was a proper alpha bitch who knew when she needed to obey her mate. Then again, they did think her to be _merely_ ningen.

Silly ningen and yōkai.

Much to Kagome's shock, the various hanyō that had been drawn to them and met them (either her _dream-_ family, or strangers who had heard about Sess and her) were the only ones who truly understood their relationship – well, to her shock at _first_. Then it hadn't been much of a shock at all because even before she began _changing_ , she had still been like this with Sess, and it was likely that their own parents had similar give-and-take relationships where one person handled the yōkai aspect and the other handled the ningen aspect.

Needless to say, even though Sess had already been changing his attitude towards regular hanyō and realising that the ones employed at his shiros were more common than the more well-known hanyō were, those wonderful people had completely reversed his previous opinion on them. Especially because he came to realise that when well matched, ningen and yōkai instincts could coexist peacefully inside of one being, and that for the most part, when yōkai sought or fell for ningen partners, those ningen in one way or another had a similar amount of power to said yōkai. This had firmed up his once-tentative plans on how to deal with teaching Byakuya, for certain. And made him wonder why it was that yōkai assumed most hanyō were like the few destructive ones rather than the majority of balanced ones.

Toga had been _highly_ unusual in his decision to be with Izayoi. Kagome decided to ask him about it sometime, although she thought she knew exactly why he'd done so. Izayoi had been the opposite, personality-wise, of the mate he was unhappy with, and the son he didn't understand. It had probably been a comfort to be around her, so he ignored the warnings and stayed with her despite their utter disparity in power.

Well, at least he'd _known_ what it would do to his son and  prepared for it. Tessaiga had, initially, been _inside_ of Inuyasha, where it could control his father's blood safely and securely for his entire life with Inuyasha being none the wiser.

Kagome looked at the chasen in her hand and placed it where it belonged in her bag, with her other four used chasen. She needed to get some more soon. It was absolutely unacceptable to _ever_ use anything except a brand new chasen in a formal tea ceremony, but for informal, just-for-the-heck-of-it, laid back ceremonies, or daily tea-making use, Kagome reused her reiki-infused chasen. She wanted to give her family and their visitors (as well as the people _she_ visited and offered to make the tea for and serve _them_ because she just adored doing it so much, and would rather they not go out of their way to provide for her when her mate made sure she had whatever she wished for) more strength, fortitude, and happiness in the process.

Kagome might not want to be _used_ as a healer, and she might not be the paragon of perfection and purity that ningen tended to make her out to be, but she had come to the realisation that she was, in fact, a healer at heart – of minds, bodies, and souls.

She just planned on doing it _her_ way, on _her_ terms, being in  total control of her actions instead of having other people attempting to force and coerce her. She was subtle with her healing abilities so that people tended to think it was her miko abilities rather than something brand new and _definitely_ not ningen.

The message that the Kami had given her in a _dream_ the night before meeting Bokusenō-sama for the first time had informed her that even had she not taken the initiative and made her body able to match up with her mate, the power she had from the Shikon being born – and destined to return to – inside of her was slowly and steadily changing her. Ningen could not be immortal, after all, so she could not be ningen any more; although as long as she had been connected to Kikyō's soul, she had been forced to delay those changes.

Her only true destiny was to live protecting the jewel once it was inside of her, which Kagome appreciated – she could make her own way – but the ways in which her body changed would be things she instinctively needed, wanted, or craved. Of course, as shown with the whole “in heat” thing, things she _needed_ weren't necessarily _wanted_ , but she would deal with it if it meant she could do whatever the hell she wanted with her life, and help people how she had always tried to do ever since she was a child and her empathy had been so strong that it was nearly incapacitating her sometimes. Thank goodness for Grandpa, who had noticed and shielded her until she could learn to do it herself – not completely subduing the empathy, just keeping it from being painful and debilitating. His sutra were useless, but he was _not_ _powerless_.

Kagome was pulled from her thoughts when familiar arms encased her – just as she was closing her bag, thankfully – and picked her up, leaping into the trees and sitting somewhere where they would remain totally unseen, but could still view the entire clearing with ease. Before Kagome could ask _why on earth_ , Sesshōmaru growled an almost inaudible, possessive growl, and began claiming her _very_ insistently and roughly.

_Oh, yes please, it's been far too long since the last time_.

Kagome decided the questions could wait for now, _more than happily_ accepting and enjoying her mate's attentions.

It wasn't even just the physical aspect of how amazing those nuzzles, feather-soft kisses, gentle but firm licks, and rough bites – he had nipped at first, in deference to her being ningen, but now that she _wasn't_ and she could heal just as fast as he could, if not faster, he _bit_ and she _adored it_ – felt to her. It was the emotional aspect. That he loved, wanted, and needed her, and felt he had to make sure she was protected and knew that she was _his_ and he would _never_ let her go. That he was fairly literally _begging_ her to allow him to show that nobody else could have her – despite being the one “submitting” to his attentions and advances, Kagome was the one really in control here, and they were both well aware of that fact. If she ever told him to stop what he was doing he would obey her immediately and absent himself until his instincts had calmed down.

And that made _all_ the difference. Kagome **loved** when Sesshōmaru got possessive with her; because he had _taught_ her about instincts, _explained_ to her about the culture and how actions were viewed, and, most importantly: _given her a_ _choice_ _._ Sesshōmaru had baldly, honestly informed her that if she did not wish for him to claim her in such a way – having seen how she responded to the two males who constantly tried to do so before – he would not do so, even if it meant having to leave her presence so he did not lose control.

The _utter care_ for her wishes would have made her agree to _anything_ he wanted from her, even had she been hesitant about what she was allowing. As it had turned out, the idea of him claiming her visibly had been something she immediately latched onto and craved with an intensity that surprised both of them – until Kagome came to the realisation that with Sesshōmaru, with _inu yōkai_ , claiming was a sign of how utterly, desperately, _needed and treasured_ the person being claimed was. It was _not_ a sign that they owned the person being claimed, or that the person being claimed belonged to them as an object or possession. She thought Sess still didn't realise she _**craved**_ this, and determined that _dammit_ , he would know today if it was the last thing she did. She needed this regularly, not only when someone or something triggered it.

The way Kōga had claimed her was as a possession of an object, chattel, and without taking her feelings into account; even though he did, in his own way, love her. No, he hadn't been _in_ love, but he had loved her, and Kagome was well aware that part of the reason he was so insistent was because he knew, and despised, what Inuyasha was doing to her.

It still didn't make the way he claimed her something to be desired, however, not by any means whatsoever.

And Inuyasha's claiming of her had just been twisted up and fucked up and a mixture of ningen and inu instincts – the latter of which Kagome still suspected he was _ignoring_ for some reason; she should tell Toga of her suspicions, maybe he could rectify that – that made him constantly shove her away from him even though he refused to let anyone else near her that might take her attention from him. They had fought a _lot_ about that, especially with how he constantly beat up on her son and accused Roku of things whenever the monk was simply being Kagome's friend and confidant. Even though the monk had been blatantly chasing after Sango at the time – it was absurd, rude, and fucking insulting as all hell.

Inuyasha wanted her to be his, but didn't care if she wanted to be or not, and didn't actually want her as a _mate_ , he just wanted to keep her around. Whatever kind of love he had for her, it was so tangled up in his emotions for Kikyō that it was just twisted – not as in disgusting or evil; it just needed straightening out and separated.

In other words, the ways in which Sesshōmaru was possessive over her were so radically different than the previous things she had experienced that she clung to them and needed them as much as he did. She _needed_ to feel beloved and treasured and so precious that she would never be let go, after being treated so differently by her other would-be suitors.

Sesshōmaru's almost-silent growling had ceased now, although he was still claiming her with just as much intensity, but she felt it safe to ask him what was wrong now, and so she did, using their newest method of communication – a barrier would be noticed eventually, after all. “ _Sesshō_ _? What's wrong,_ _aite_ _? What happened to make you like this, mine? Not that I am complaining – in fact I'm rather pleased, it's been_ _well_ _over a_ _sennight_ _since you ne_ _e_ _ded to claim me and I misse_ _d the attention._ ”

Her mate didn't catch the last part, she knew – her question was the important thing to him because he was claiming her and would do anything she asked of him when he was in this state; Kagome had managed to get a _lot_ of nice little presents from him that way, which he utterly loved about her. She wasn't afraid to use her power over him, although she never did it with bad intentions or to punish him; only as a proper inu bitch would use the power they had over their mate to get things she wanted, just like the male would use his power over his bitch to get things _he_ wanted.

“ _This Sesshōmaru apologises; I... Well, it was rather inevitable and unavoidable given the circumstances, and had I remembered certain important facts, I would have immediately absented myself from the clearing instead of watching the ceremony._ ”

She mentally prodded him again, slowly getting him to give her the information she needed to know, “ _And what is it that you forgot, mine?_ ”

He huffed against the back of her neck – her hair had been pushed over her left shoulder so he could attack her right shoulder – before biting it, licking up the blood that he so enjoyed tasting even as her wounds healed over mere moments later, and, taking her soft, almost inaudible moan as encouragement – which it _absolutely was, fuck,_ _more_ – he did it again, and _again_ , pausing between the biting and licking to pepper feather-soft, barely-there kisses over her skin. Her knees were completely weak, despite not even being standing, by the time he answered her.

“ _This Sesshōmaru's father is an inescapable flirt. He does not intend to_ _be one, to do so_ _,_ _and_ _he does not mean it, but he unconsciously flirts with every female he meets, no matter if they are taken, uninterested, completely untouchable, or crave him completely. Even when they are family; it is one thing that Mother always loved about him, even though she knew he_ _rarely ever_ _did it on purpose. Father is..._ _C_ _harming – literally so. It was not so difficult at first; especially with him calling you daughter and you responding with_ _F_ _ather, but later on..._ _T_ _his Sesshōmaru almost had to leave, but it felt more important that he support your first formal encounter_ _with_ _F_ _ather_ _than_ _it was to_ _allow his baser instincts to take over, especially when they are reacting to something so_ _foolish._ _E_ _qually e_ _specially as the flirting was much more with his yōki than his words – and the interest being shown was likely completely familial, but, as this one said; his father is an inescapable flirt: even his yōki reacts as if “interested” when it is not._ ”

Kagome was quiet – barring the little noises he was causing her to make as he pulled her hair over her opposite shoulder and began working on her left shoulder, neck, and ear yet again – as she thought. “ _Why is it that Toga made you react so strongly?_ ”

She _knew_ the answer to this was not just important, but deeply cultural, and that it was integral for her to realise, because at some point she would very possibly experience it for herself. Kagome was well aware that, like Toga, her soft attention often came across as flirtatious or more interested than she truly was – it was honestly a miracle that Sess understood her so well that he never reacted to her accidental misleading of other people – although that might partially be because she always made it clear that the yōkai with her was her mate and husband (no, they had not married yet, but ningen didn't realise the full connotations of mating, and so husband worked well to show that she was taken... and so was _he_. Frankly Kagome couldn't care less if they ever married; mating was deeper and more consuming and important, by far), so she was obviously taken.

“ _Father is the only person who has ever been able to beat_ _this Sesshōmaru_ _in a fair fight_ _after he learned his kata and finished his swordsmanship lessons_ _. He is still my alpha until I beat him, and I have no wish to_ _challenge_ _him. However, if he were to decide to challenge me for any reason_ _and won_ _, you would by default be_ _his_ _alpha bitch, since you are more alpha than this one's Mother is,_ _by now,_ _and because death caused the_ _ir mating to dissolve_ _. This Sesshōmaru knows logically that Father is not interested in you like that, and would never do such a thing to him, but the power he holds, and the fact that parents_ _never_ _cease being alphas even when their children take over those positions from them – this Sesshōmaru believes you would call them…_ _Ah!_ _“_ _S_ _atellite” alphas; orbiting_ _the pack_ _but not in charge unless needed –_ _makes him a potential threat_ _._ ”

Kagome hummed under her breath before responding thoughtfully, “ _So it is_ _ **not**_ _that you are_ _romantically_ _threatened by your father; it is that his position over you and his natural flirtations simply cause your instincts to rouse more thoroughly because there is still the chance that if you fought, he would win, and that would mean you could, legally, lose me – even though you actually wouldn't?_ ”

He nodded against her skin, “ _That is exactly so. Also, this one would likely lose against his father because this one cannot see either of us challenging one or the other_ _for pack position_ _unless it was over something so important that this Sesshōmaru would likely lose control and let instinct and the beast take over – and when that happens, the battle is lost, even when it is won._ ”

She snuggled back into him – at her obvious encouragement he was still claiming her, but in a much more languid and sensual manner, compared to the frantic need of before – and thought for a moment, before speaking with a sly smirk. She knew **just** how to make Sesshō  see how much she needed this, just like he did. “ _This Kagome should_ _make sure to_ _invite her honoured father over often then, if it makes you do this._ ”

As expected, Sesshō immediately stopped, turned her head towards him, and searched her eyes – finding something that he had obviously not expected in them. “ _You... Kagome, mate, you_ _ **crave**_ _this as much as this Sesshōmaru does? For how long, koishi?_ ”

Blue eyes melted with love at the blatant shock, surprise, and hope in his mind-voice; and in his eyes. “ _From the moment that_ _you fully explained what it meant to me, mine. I_ _t_ _was exactly the kind of possession I needed, craved, completely desired, because it made me special, treasured, and protected by someone I know I can trust implicitly and who will never betray or leave me. I_ _t_ _was so radically different from Kōga and Inuyasha and from the moment I realised exactly what this kind of claiming meant... I treasure every memory of you doing so to me. And, to be honest, I wish it would happen with more regularity; even without the need – the actions and emotions behind it are something that I pretty much constantly crave from you._ ”

Sesshōmaru was stunned speechless, just for a moment, before he pulled her tighter against him, bit deeply into her mating mark – “ _Kami,_ _that almost made_ _me_ _orgasm,_ _fuck do it_ _again, please_!” – and growled out, both into her mind and in a low, deep, passionate voice, “ _ **Mine, mate. All Mine.**_ ”

And then, as she had requested, he bit her mating mark again, but not until making sure his mokomoko was covering her mouth _very_ firmly indeed – it had a sort of magic that muffled noise, simply because he _willed_ it, however that happened, so her incredibly long and loud cry from the orgasm he just gave her would be unheard by anyone in the camp.

Thankfully, yōkai-made clothing _also_ often severely dampened scent from beneath them – Kagome and Sesshōmaru smelled of each other because they were _always_ all over each other in one way or another, so the clothing absorbed that outside scent, but inside scents were strongly dampened – mainly so that when a female became fertile, and thus aroused much more often and regularly, it was easier to conceal and easier to keep unwanted males away from her. Not easy, or simple, just easi _er_.

So, nobody would know that her lover had just made her orgasm (whilst hardly even touching her, that _wonderful_ male; she didn't even care about his smug, arrogant pleasure with this state of things, he frankly _deserved_ it after  that, **seriously** ), they would only smell nascent arousal on her, and that was a completely common scent for Kagome; hell it was a common scent for most beast yōkai who had partners, male or female.

For a while she drifted, coming down from the high and wrapped up, her beloved mate continuing to lay claim to her slowly and intently. As she started coming to, however, an idea slipped into her mind and she asked her mate, “ _Maru... Sesshō... How much easier or worse would it be if you challenged your father in a friendly, non-pack-related way; not necessarily to determine ownership or dominance, but just to test your skills? I_ _f_ _you lost you would know for certain not to challenge him formally, and as it wouldn't be a true challenge you won't have lost anything; you already suspect he still surpasses you, after all, confirmation of that is nothing considering how much you love and respect him._

“ _But if you won..._ _I_ _t might strongly soothe those warning instincts – not that I don't adore being claimed, but I would abhor for you to grow to resent Father over something neither he nor I can control and that is completely harmless anyway, considering that we aren't really suitable for each other._ _ **You**_ _after all, the Cold Lord and the Warm Alpha both are my soul-mate._ _Y_ _our father is a bit t_ _o_ _o... I dunno; he's fun and I enjoy his presence, but it would irritate me if he were to be constantly around me, I'm fairly sure,_ _and even if it didn't he still really isn't that attractive to me, personality-wise_ _or even physically._

“ _I think it's that he mixes both sides of him so completely together that it's a bit weird to me; I like how separated the different facets of you are, and I know that they will probably merge some over time – but I'll_ _have_ _time to get used to that, rather than being confronted with someone who is like both parts of you_ _and a large dash of Inuyasha's sheer brazenness_ _put together, only with a bit of a different sense of humour, simultaneously._ ”

Kagome bared her neck to Sesshōmaru so that he would kiss and nuzzle the front of her throat how she liked, and he promptly did so, even licking it softly, making her _melt_ into a _pile_ of _goo_ , seriously it felt so amazing. She knew that despite his attentions he was thinking – in fact, doing this for her was helping him think more _clearly_ ; for both of them, the inu possession instincts meant making your mate happy, so doing things to please them (hence why Kagome had him buy her things she wanted) helped calm those instincts. Kagome was doing the same thing for him because right now the only things that could make her mate happy were, one, making _her_ happy; which he was doing. And two, figuring out how to work around how his father's presence was affecting him.

It took a while, but finally he bit her throat and _sucked_ on it, causing her to gasp and arch and making her mokomoko wrap around him tightly – it would be doing _other_ things, but they had just gotten back to their pack and really ought to wait, despite not wanting to. “ _This Sesshōmaru believes a friendly spar – with the full intention on having many more in the future, th_ _u_ _s giving whichever of us loses the benefit of education_ _a_ _t the hands of the winner – would indeed help, no matter which way it ends. If this Sesshōmaru loses to his father but his father clearly does not care about becoming pack alpha, it will go a long ways towards quelling those instincts – and you, little mate, already made a great deal of headway by confirming that Father is at times an irritant to be swatted away, and that you would never be interested in him_ _i_ _n such a manner. You_ _know_ _that this Sesshōmaru does not resent your inherent kindness and sweetness, but with Father..._ ”

She turned her head to kiss the underside of his chin in an apologetic manner, “ _I know, mate. Nobody else in_ _Ni_ _h_ _on_ _comes even close to being able to challenge you – excepting him, and many women would be drawn to such power. In this Kagome's opinion? Even if he wins, you are_ _still_ _the more powerful one, because you had so much more working against you and still you managed to achieve so much_ _in so little time_ _. Toga had it fairly easy all his life. I'm glad I was able to help, love. Now;_ _I_ _can't walk, thanks to you – and thank you very much for that by the way, it was utterly unexpected and delightful and satisfying, you smug, arrogant, perfect daiyōkai._ _So eventually you're going to have to carry me back to camp._ ”

She had to let him know that because he was still radiating satisfaction at the fact that he had done that just by _biting_ her _twice_ – her mating mark  was sensitive, and an erogenous zone for her; but it wasn't usually _that_ sensitive. Kagome thought that the finally-completed bond might have something to do with that (or maybe it was her blatant sexual masochism) but she was _not_ about to complain. Especially because she wanted him to do that again, and _soon_.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Just in case anybody is confused, this chapter is a direct continuation from the previous one.

\- - -

Kagome nuzzled back into her mate's arms before asking him for something that she hadn't asked for in almost a week – their intense mating due to her heat had prevented her from thinking about _anything_ else, and before then had been the break from the ōkami.

“ _Hey... Sess... Blood?_ ”

He didn't even hesitate or ask, well used to this by now, and used a claw to slice his hand open with a shallow gash, allowing Kagome to bring it to her mouth and lick up the dripping liquid – making sure not to let any of it escape. It didn't last long – the gash healed fast – but she felt even more drowsy and sated now.

Kagome, it turned out, as part of her _ch_ _a_ _nging_ , had developed a very particular and strange type of blood lust – she was as utterly addicted to the taste of her mate's blood as he was to hers. She even liked her meat cooked more rare now, rather than the well-done she used to prefer.

The strange thing about this was that, well, blood **truly** disgusted her, other than those instances and when healing. Taste, smell, appearance, _feel_ , Kagome could not _stand_ blood. She could easily deal with it as a miko and healer, and it did not phase her in the slightest to be standing knee-deep in oni or yōkai guts with blood surrounding her when she had people to patch up from the attack, but when it came to the liquid getting on her face, in her hair, or being confronted with blood in a situation that was not healing-related, Sess-related, or food-related, Kagome _freaked out_. Well, to the extent that she was capable of doing so, anyhow – it wasn't like she had panic attacks or anything; but blood was Gross. The upper case G was _absolutely_ _necessary_ thank you very much.

It made for quite the hilarious contradiction – but nobody teased her about it, thankfully. Kagome thought that was partly because half of her group was ningen and so realised where her dislike of blood came from – most ningen didn't like the substance much – and the other half was beast yōkai, and they understood the blood lust she did have, but also understood that it wasn't _natural_ to her like it was to them, and understood that this changing she was undergoing was happening much faster than she was comfortable with.

Which it absolutely was – but Kagome suspected that the reason it was happening so rapidly was because of how much of the Shikon she had in her possession – there couldn't be more than a dozen shards left now before they completed the jewel. If it would _actually_ make a difference, she would simply have Sess keep it for her, but it wouldn't work that way. Even if the Shikon was halfway across the world, because she had been born with it inside of her, the closer it came to being completed, the closer she came to completing this changing.

The only reason it hadn't happened with Naraku was firstly, Kikyō's presence and the tearing of her soul that kept Kikyō's partial soul bound to the golem. Once the golem died and her soul was returned to her, Kikyō finally reuniting with herself, the thing stopping the changes was the seal Magatsuhi had on her. It turned out that the kind of experimentation she had done with her reiki and miko-ki had been spurred on by a deep instinct that recognised the need to change, and was hurrying her along so that by the time things came to a head, she would already be _used_ to it. She vaguely remembered her thought long ago in the private dojo at the main shiro that unfortunately she would _never_ cease being ningen – pah, yeah _right_. She wasn't all too certain she was fond of all these changes, and she most definitely hadn't been ningen even back that long ago.

Kagome was also fairly certain that it wasn't actually her reiki powering her body and senses any more; she strongly suspected that the reiki she had bound into herself was, however, the reason why she could do things with it that nobody else could – her reiki was not just of her, it was _in_ her, and very deeply. In just under three weeks it would be a year since mating Sess, and it had probably been a year as of last week that she permanently bound some reiki into her body to permanently enhance it. She had sufficiently changed that her own body was very much like that of a yōkai – ultra-rapid healing, superior strength, speed, agility, flexibility, and enhanced senses that were more than just canine.

This new Kagome could see in the dark with the greatest of ease now (she had the slit yōkai pupils, although she was able to use her reiki to make them look ningen, which she did – even Sess agreed that it was better for people to think of her as a not-so-simple ningen miko rather than something far, _far_ more than ningen, for now anyway), her hearing and sense of smell and taste were on par with the strongest daiyōkai to walk Nihon, her sense of _touch_ meant she could do incredibly intricate things that had been impossible for her before because of an inherent clumsiness.

Oh and that was well gone too, instead she was graceful, steady, and poised. Plus, she swore she was developing fangs; which Kagome hoped was true because then she could _bite S_ ess too and get his blood without him having to get it for her – although Kagome swore if her ears ever became pointed she would throw a _fit_. Not that she disliked them – Kagome adored the yōkai pointed ears. But Kagome was  bornningen, and as much as she enjoyed what she was changing into for the most part, she still wanted _some_ part of her heritage to stay the same... and that was mostly her ears, in no small part because her mate enjoyed the different shape and feel that they had compared to yōkai ears. She was torn about her nails – on the one hand, having claws would be a pain and a half to get used to, and she liked how rough she could get with her nails in various ways because they _were_ blunt ningen nails; on the other hand, claws would mean that she could more easily groom her son's tail.

Actually, scratch that – there were some things she didn't want to give up, and one of them was how rough she could be with her nails. Her reiki burned away the blood drawn from her after a short time, so that despite the roughness her mate now often used with her when intimate, her skin never became coated with her blood for very long. Yōki, on the other hand, had no such function, and she preferred the deep scratches that _didn't_ bleed to the possibility of blood-coated skin – yes, tasting his blood was perfect, but getting it _all over her_ was a **N** **o**. Again, the capital was absolutely necessary.

Even when healing/doctoring people up, she still tried her best to keep blood away from her person – unless in the middle of or aftermath of a fight she disliked having blood anywhere on her whatsoever that wasn't associated with her intimate habits; and as her lover had been shown by the little _oni_ incident on the day that Kōga visited them and found out about her and Sess, she still couldn't stand it in certain places even during or after a fight if she didn't have people who needed her immediate attention to fix them up. Blood in her hair and on her face and neck was the absolute _worst_. Bleeeegh. Shudder. Seriously, just  No.

Healing was easier, but she was still glad that her clothing repelled foreign substances – no bloodstained clothing for her, thank you very much. No cleaning it, or burning it, or changing out of it – if it _needed_ to happen for a _patient_ , she simply had Sesshōmaru dissolve it with his acid. It also meant that Kagome stayed completely sanitary at all times.

She still spent a lot of her time with bloody hands, but that was something that couldn't be helped – both her “trades”, being Lady of the West and being a Healer, required that from her. Before she'd decided to stay fully in the past, those times she hadn't thought about Shippō or Roku or Sango or Inuyasha or _anybody_ except herself and what would happen if she got dragged back to the future when she finished the jewel – something that she realised had been incredibly likely until she had cut almost all of her ties to the future and _already_ made a life for herself in the past; she had no responsibilities _there_ any more – she'd decided that even as much as she disliked blood, she wanted to be a doctor.

That's pretty much what she was _here_ when she wasn't busy being Lady of the West, alpha bitch of her pack, or Mama.

She couldn't really count “family” in that because _all_ of her interactions with _all_ her family members (even her children – they just had a different twist because of her also being Mama) revolved around her being alpha. That was just how _pack_ worked; position affected how anyone interacted with each other, and _how_ it affected them was the first thing _anyone_ new to the pack learned.

They weren't ōkami though – there was no such thing as an omega position in their pack. Nobody got the last and the worst – the closest it _might_ come was being like Inuyasha was; expelled from the pack and not allowed to interact with them. That was the most serious punishment in a canine pack, being ignored—or worse, banished—largely because it most definitely didn't only punish the person in question; it punished the _whole pack_ because nobody felt right when they had to ignore a pack member, and the person doing the banishing in that scenario inevitably had a breakdown afterwards. Not even if they actively disliked the pack member in question would anybody in an inu pack get pleasure from ignoring or banishing a pack member, even if that person was only partial- or extended-pack. Such a severe action always, without fail, ended in the person doing it crying afterwards.

Thankfully it hadn't happened to them yet (Inuyasha was willingly separate, not enduring punishment ignoring or having been banished, so he didn't count at all, in any way whatsoever) – Byakuya was the one most at risk of getting punished; many alphas would have done so by now, but he was a special case and they refused to punish him over things he couldn't control.

For someone who didn't actually know how to live, hadn't been taught anything, and sometimes lost control of his yōki (and thus, his abilities), after an incident he needed to be _helped_ , not outcast.

A sharp nip to the shell of her ear brought Kagome out of her thoughts and she whined softly – what'd she done to deserve _that_? Nibbling, biting, and tracing was one thing, but nips and flicks to the ears were _punishment_. Her answer was given to her before she could even ask, “ _You weren't paying attention to me, getting lost in thought is all well and good but not when I'm still claiming you – I hadn't actually_ _ **finished**_ _yet._ ”

Okay; he had her there. Kagome _knew_ better than to not pay attention when being claimed – even though he knew she wasn't actively ignoring him, it would still feel like she was to his instincts. She bared her neck submissively and he bit into her skin, licking up her blood before nuzzling and kissing down her flesh. She sighed and relaxed back into him, gladly submitting herself to his attentions until he finished – which, since they were in sight of the camp, had _an_ alpha there to take care of any problems, and had actually come home a day earlier than they'd intended...

He might be a while.

Not that Kagome minded, _at all_. Maybe she'd make her mokomoko cause him to lose control even further... Yeah, she'd do that; they could drive each other mad for the next while, lost in love and pleasure.

\- - -

Kagome sighed as she gently and carefully scrubbed the long black hair between her fingers, occasionally giving a rough flick to the tip of the pointed ears beneath the hair. “I _warned_ you about that maple syrup, Byakuya! But nooo, you just _had_ to try to make it float around in a ball above your head. _And mine_. You _knew_ Shippō is in one of his moods, since you bloody well encouraged the kit to make it _worse_. Why on earth would you purposely put yourself in prime range of one of his distra- Never mind; I can guess a number of reasons, most of which have to do with teaching him a stealth lesson. Still, you could have done something less _messy_ , I don't like having maple syrup _all over me_. It's almost as gross as blood is!”

She sighed again and poured a little more shampoo into his hair, noticing that the simmering tension that had been inside of him today – something strange and unusual for someone who generally radiated peace in spite of his age switches – was almost gone now. He mumbled something into the water and she flicked his ear harder this time. Kagome was in _full_ Alpha Bitch mode right now; Byakuya might be called her “cousin” because he regularly alternated between treating her like an older sister and a younger sister (very much on purpose, as everyone in the pack was fully aware of and highly amused by, even Kagome herself), but right now he was in little brother mode.

“I'm sorry, Kagome. I knew you didn't want me to play with the sticky and I did it anyway... I just...”

Aha! She _knew_ there was something going on there – normally, as punishment for getting her included in his accident despite being warned against doing what he was doing, Kagome would have made her pack-mate clean himself off alone, but she'd sensed that  something was going on and insisted on ordering everyone to _scram_ if they knew what was good for them, then dragged her _little brother_ off to the onsen in the area for this sennight. Toga had _definitely_ been impressed with how every damn person, including their four yōkai guests and _Sesshōmaru_ had vacated the area immediately without asking a single question.

It was telling that despite his amusement, _he_ had left, too – rapidly at that.

Kagome was tempted to call him a “good boy” the next time she saw him. It'd been a fortnight since Toga's official inclusion in the pack and by now she was aware of the fact that she terrified the shit out of him and used it to her advantage regularly. Mostly just because she could. Ah, power – how wonderful it was to have.

Still; back to Byakuya now. She ran her hands _over_ his hair ( **not** through; being based on a moth yōkai Byakuya's hair was _far_ too sensitive to be treated how canines usually did; washing he could handle, barely, because the water dampened the sensitivity, but even then it had to be done exquisitely carefully – only Kagome, Sesshōmaru, Kohaku, and Byakuya himself were allowed to do so, and generally Byakuya did his own hair, barely touching it and using his yōki to dispel the dirt daily, only physically cleaning it once a sennight or fortnight), growling comfortingly and pressing her body against his, gently coaxing his problem out of him with her body language and tone of voice, softly encouraging and accepting, “Go on, you just what?”

He blew into the water and said, “I had a problem and needed to talk to you super alone, because it's bad and I don't want anyone else to know except alpha so please keep him in your mind for this. But _only_ Sesshōmaru-ni and you can know this, Kagome! I don't even want  Roku-ni knowing this!”

That was _serious_. Byakuya and Roku were thick as thieves, and Byakuya always went to the older male for advice about things, especially when it came to help with his illusions and pranks, because Roku could easily find holes and figure out how to patch them up. Unfortunately for Byakuya, Roku definitely already knew whatever was going on – Roku knew _all_. His name might have changed, but he was still “he-who-knows-all” and that would _never_ change.  Ever. As Kagome had frequently (jokingly) lamented over back when she was sharing a pack with Inuyasha, he really did know everything, often even before the person involved knew – the ability had always been there to an extent, but it was much magnified and a hundred times more accurate now than it had _ever_ been before, and was continuing to grow in spades. Kagome suspected it was the changes from becoming immortal.

She dunked Byakuya under the water so his hair was rinsed off, pushed him onto an underwater ledge, and sat in his lap, running her fingers over his hair again; the only action dealing with his hair that actually relaxed and calmed him. He was actually only a little taller than her, so sitting like this made his head the perfect height to lay on her shoulder. “Tell me what's wrong, sweetie.”

He was quiet for a long time, and Kagome knew he was gathering up his courage to tell her whatever was bothering him, until he suddenly _burst_ out with “Kagome, I really don't know what to do, I have a _huge_ _crush_ on Kohaku!”

That...

Wow.

Um. Yeah.

Kagome _really_ should have seen that coming, actually. In the back of her mind, Sess was agreeing with her, his voice filled with a strongly amused shock and pleasure. (Sess _adored_ Byakuya, as Kagome had known he would.)

It made complete sense, especially because, despite Byakuya looking physically older and having a more peaceful aura, Kohaku was most definitely mentally more often the older and stabler of the two, always helped Byakuya, and when Kohaku wasn't with the children and Byakuya wasn't with Roku, it was guaranteed they'd be together. Neither of them ever went off to be away from the group alone unless they were scouting; they always went together, at least to begin with – Kagome'd followed them a couple times and they would often split up, get some running out of their system, and meet up in some place they decided on earlier. They generally practised their abilities with each other and helped each other learn how to be better scouts/spies – Kagome was debating informing Sess about that, so he could help them in their endeavour.

It did pose a problem though, because everyone knew, and it was clear that Byakuya did too (oh, right, he'd been there when they fetched Kohaku _and_ when she told Sango, _duh_ , of course he freaking knew; unlike Sesshōmaru he'd definitely listened in on the whole conversation with her, if only to see if she ever began listening his direction so he could try to make it hard for her to not laugh), that Kohaku wasn't ready for a relationship right now, and might not be for _decades_. Before she could say anything though he rushed out, “I know that I can't do anything about it – Kohaku's the best but he hurts _so much_ inside and that asshole Naraku damaged him so badly and he probably won't even be thinking about things like that for ages and ages, but I want to be near him so much it _hurts_ and I'm always scared that he'll get sick of me and not want to be my best friend any more-”

Kagome cut him off with a chaste kiss, shushing him and stroking the top of his head as she changed the tone of her growl and added a soft, sweet hum to it. Okay, no more of this _cousin_ business, Byakuya was firmly affixed in her mind as “little brother” now, and always would be even if he acted more mature than her at times. The way in which he gained her attention to deal with this matter just made it all the more clear that for all of his seeming maturity at times, he was still much younger than her where it counted. “It's okay, sweetie. It's okay, your alphas won't let things go like that, alright? Neither of us will. I am going to help you with this, I promise, and I can even start _right now_ and do more than just listen to you. But you have to answer me honestly, okay?”

He'd been close to crying then, and Kagome didn't want her sweet Byakuya to cry over something as wonderful as like or love, even if it was going to be unrequited for a long time – possibly forever since nobody knew where Kohaku's interest's lie when it came to that, although knowing Mamoru... Well. She wouldn't put anything past that feline, so long as it helped Kohaku. He probably didn't consciously know, but he _knew_ Kohaku in and out better than anyone in existence did. He very well might have encouraged their friendship on subconscious knowledge that this would happen. “This Byakuya will do _exactly_ as Kagome says.”

“Well, if that's the case, the first thing you can do is start calling me “ane-san”, otōto-kun.”

As she expected, having his position finally being actually affixed in the pack for his _other_ alpha calmed Byakuya down immediately, and he couldn't help the happy grin that spread across his face, “Really? Thank you so much, 'ne-san!”

She smiled and petted him softly, despite being well aware that he had _actively encouraged_ the difficulties she had with “naming” him, because frankly it was more adorable that he'd done that than it was annoying, then continued on, “First off, does it hurt to think about the fact that it might be decades before he ever returns your interest – or that he might never do so?”

Kagome was hoping for, and because she knew the illusionist, _expecting_ , a specific response from him, and she was not disappointed. He scoffed harshly, shaking his head, “ _Hell_ no! I don't _care_ whether Kohaku ever likes me back, I just want him _happy_ and to be able to be around him! It might hurt seeing him with someone else but even then it might not, so long as he's happy.”

She smiled and kissed his crescent at that, nodding, “Good. Then you won't have to worry about _anything_ , otōto-kun. Did you know, the best way to love someone, is to be their friend? The only reason Sesshōmaru and I ever fell in love with each other was because we had a deep respect for each other, which turned into friendship, which turned into more. I can't promise that your friendship with Kohaku will ever become “more,” but I can tell you that I think, out of anyone here, your presence makes Kohaku the happiest. You're his _best friend_ right next to Mamoru, did you realise that? He told me so himself, and thanked Sesshōmaru very formally for allowing you to join the group and become pack.”

The incredibly deep blush that _completely covered_ Byakuya's cheeks was the most endearing and adorable thing Kagome had seen all sennight! She “sent” the image to Sesshōmaru – who, because Byakuya had told her he wanted to know this, was following the conversation instead of staying out of her mind – and got a chuckle in return and an admittance that seeing the normally very composed yōkai so flustered was quite amusing.

That was as good as an “adorable” from Sess.

“Now, I'm going to tell you something you should know because I think you need to change your mind; I won't _make_ you tell them, I promise, but I think you should let Roku and Mamoru know, and this is why.”

True to form, Byakuya got _serious_ and listened. Kagome was usually right about things like this, and he wanted to know why she thought he should let _anyone_ other than his alphas know when nothing was going to come out of this for a long time, if ever. “First off, I know for a _fact_ that Roku has repeated experience with loving someone who did not love him back. I don't know the first person, except that she is very contently in a relationship with somebody else and Roku is quite pleased for her happiness, but Sango really disliked him for a long time when they met, when he loved her very deeply.”

Kagome was content not knowing who the other, permanently unrequited, love that Roku had was. Because just the fact that she'd never even known about it until he confessed it to her so that she would know that anyone else in the pack could talk to him about it (considering how recently he did this, he was already aware that Byakuya was ready to talk to her about the situation she was dealing with now, and thus would be expecting the yōkai to confide in him soon; good) meant that he did not want _anyone_ to know who this person was. Kagome'd tried, back as a brash teenager who didn't have enough respect for mental privacy because of her empathy, to get Roku to open up to her – even going so far as to drop her shields altogether around the man.

She'd gotten _nothing_. Kagome had never in her _life_ met somebody who was as strongly mentally shielded as Roku was. That didn't mean things couldn't get _into_ his mind – only that _absolutely nothing_ could get out that Roku did not purposely let out. Even if it was a foreign entity, it would be _trapped_ once it got into Roku's mind. Kagome respected his privacy now, very strongly, and didn't resent the fact that he didn't want her to know. It wasn't specific to her, after all, there was no singling out going on, and he obviously had the situation in hand – he had told her that the woman he loved was beyond happy and that was enough for him.

Somehow she thought this love was something a lot more serious and deep that what he had ever had with Sango had been. And that it meant he, too, would probably be alone for a long time, until he could find someone who captured his attention at least a little bit as much as this other woman had. Roku was obviously blindingly happy with the situation, though, so Kagome wasn't worried – she knew what true love felt like, when you didn't even care if they were with _you_ so long as they were happy; she felt that way about Sess, after all. And she truly, honestly did not begrudge Roku his secret – she didn't ever want _him_ to know that he'd actually been her absolute best friend for good earlier than halfway through their first year with Naraku, regardless of what she had said about Inuyasha, and that she loved him better than she had _ever_ loved Sango, or even Inuyasha.

Not because he was vain, but because Kagome _knew_ somewhere deep inside of her heart that while it would make her ani-san blindingly happy, it would also break his heart. And she could _never_ _ever_ do that.

It was weirdly fitting that of all the people in their pack to fall in love (because despite his words, not giving a damn if the person ever liked you back was _love_ , not a _crush_ , no matter whether you could accept or recognise that you were in love or not) first, it had been the youngest, created, and once imprisoned yōkai who had done so. Part of Naraku, whose twisted, false love had caused so much pain and despair for others, was the first person in their pack to experience a true, deep love – well; once they'd been made pack, that is. After all, Roku had his love, but that was well before he'd ever become pack, he'd made that very clear. And similarly were Sesshōmaru and Kagome; yet again, they loved each other before becoming pack.

“And... He won't _mind_? That it's _Kohaku_?”

It clicked into place then, and Kagome felt stupid for not realising earlier why Byakuya didn't want to tell Roku about this. Roku was ningen, definitely and blatantly straight (his hands might behave now, but he still constantly flirted with every single, pretty girl – ningen, hanyō, _or_ yōkai – he ever saw when they passed through villages. Never enough to lead them on, but enough to make it clear that he wasn't letting  anything hold him back from enjoying life now that he had life to enjoy), _and_ raised as a monk. Hell, Roku and Kagome very often did actual, proper exorcisms and blessings and things of that sort.

She shook her head and smiled, “Roku is _very_ open-minded, Byakuya. He might have been raised a monk, but he has never let that affect him so much that he stops judging people on their personalities _instead_ of on what society might think of them. He judges the heart; not the lifestyle. I promise, he won't like you less, he won't discourage you, and he will keep your secret just as good as your alphas will.”

The moth yōkai nodded solemnly, “Thank you for telling me that, 'ne-san – I can't always go to you, after all, and I felt really bad about hiding anything from Roku-ni because he's always there to listen to me when I need him.”

Kagome smiled, “He is a wonderful friend to everyone here, isn't he? Ani-san is very precious and integral to our pack. Now, I bet you're wondering why on _earth_ I think you should tell Mamoru?”

He sighed gustily and nodded strongly at that, “Yes, please, because won't he just tell Kohaku? They never keep things from each other! And I don't want Kohaku to know because he might feel _bad_ or _pressured_ and I never want that.”

Kagome was about to blow her little brother's mind completely, and she was intensely gratified by being able to do such a thing, “Mamoru was speaking to me for over a year before he approached Kohaku. Mamoru also was the one of us who decided that until or unless Kohaku asks about why he isn't interested in anybody romantically, nobody in the camp is to _ever_ mention that his experiences affected his ability to have that kind of attachment with anyone normal. Mamoru might not really keep secrets from Kohaku, but that doesn't mean he _tells_ Kohaku everything he knows. And I think you should tell him, because who better to let you know when Kohaku genuinely needs to be away from everybody, or, though I doubt it'll ever happen, you specifically? Or who better to tell you when Kohaku  really needs you to be around him?

“I know Mamoru's done so a couple times before, but if he realises the nature of your feelings, he will do his level best to make sure you don't screw up – because even if Kohaku never loves you the way you love him, _being loved_ the way you love him is something that Kohaku desperately needs in his life. Everyone else who can stand on two legs has expectations of him – even if it's just to make sure that he doesn't disobey his alphas. You, on the other hand, aren't expecting a single damn thing from him, and that will go farther towards helping him heal than _anything else_ that _anyone else_ except Mamoru can do.”

As she expected, those words struck her little brother deeply, and he hid his face against her shoulder. He wasn't crying, but he was awestruck with the fact that maybe the fact that he was in love with Kohaku would actually be _good_ for the other boy, instead of an imposition or hindrance. He had, no doubt, been expecting his alpha(s, since Sess was always in her mind unless asked to leave, and Byakuya wanted him there) to tell him to keep his distance or to make sure to never let Kohaku know, or something else along those lines – not because he mistrusted them, but because he just _didn't realise_ that things didn't work that way with them yet; he didn't have enough time amongst them or experience to know better.

Kagome was actually incredibly pleased with this new development – first off, because it was rather hilarious that ever since what Shippō said, it was generally expected for them to eventually meet up with Kagura and Kanna and have one of the girls fall for him, but instead it'd been their _own pack_ _member_ to fall for the taijiya; and the only male of the incarnations she'd brought back to life. Secondly, because Kagome had _hated_ the idea of Kohaku with Kagura or Kanna – not because of the girls themselves, but just because it was so damned _cliché_ and _obvious_ and plus there wouldn't actually be a bond of trust to tie any of them together without them travelling with the pack, which wouldn't happen for a very long time. The girls needed to be able to _grow up_ first.

Kagome knew that Kohaku would need time, but that didn't mean she wanted him to be _forced_ to wait because he hadn't been able to learn to trust the person interested in him until after the interest was already there.

Also, there was the little annoyance of matching first initials that Kagome thought was a bit trite.

Yes, that was a shallow reason; no, she did not care. Sometimes she was shallow, and that was allowed because she was not some divine, infallible being. She could damn well be shallow if she pleased, and she _would_ be, because she didn't ever want people mistaking her for divinity. Kagome might be  truly immortal, but she was not a Kami – either in the sense of a deity or in the sense of a divine spirit – and would never be one.

Sess nudged her back to the present and she rubbed her little brother's neck, kissing Byakuya's hair softly. “You know, I'm really happy that out of everyone, it was you that fell for Kohaku, Byakuya. It's really a pleasing turn of events and a pleasant surprise.”

He sat up and blinked at that, “But wasn't everyone expecting -”

“Remember what I said when that was brought up?”

He laughed a bit, “Oh yeah, you got really pissed off and annoyed with the idea of him being with one of the others.”

She smiled and nodded, “But I knew that really, he did need to be with someone who experienced Naraku as intimately as him – but at the same time, it really couldn't be someone who was as badly traumatised as him because then they wouldn't be able to help comfort him. You've always said that being mediocre meant your time under his control was easier for you than it could have been – it still chafed and hurt, and you still experienced how truly twisted and nasty your creator was with those things he poured into your dreams, but you didn't experience anything like what Kohaku did.”

Byakuya shook his head solemnly, “If it wasn't for Sesshōmaru-ni and Kagome-ne, Kohaku would have a lot more nightmares than he does, and the ones he tells me about are really bad enough as it is. I think he's really glad I never went through that, but that it doesn't bother me to listen to him talk about them despite that.”

“Exactly. Plus, honestly, I think the love of a female would be too... Mothering. I've kinda always thought that – if you notice, I'm not distant with Kohaku, but even though he spends lots of time with my children I never ever treat him like he's one of them; he's always only my little brother. He doesn't need _mothering_ , because it would just _hurt_ him. Remind him of what he doesn't have and has never had in his life. However he still has his sister, so I can be his big sister without it making anything worse. Although I know that the longer he was with her the harder it was for him to be around Sango. And he never had older brothers or younger relatives, so that sort of relationship doesn't affect him badly either. Plus, did you know, you're the only two-legged member of the pack besides Jaken that Kohaku doesn't think of as a family member? And we _all_ know that Jaken just doesn't count because he's an annoyance when he isn't running errands or watching the children.”

Everyone actually liked the stupid little imp, but mostly because he honestly did care about everyone in the pack, especially Rin and Shippō – and because his sense of self-importance was absolutely _hilarious_. He was still an extreme annoyance, though, and kind of had a weird place in the pack, being the only two-legged member that _nobody_ thought of as _family_ ;he was still pack, but not _family_ _ **.**_ He liked it that way, though. Even though they all kicked or threw pebbles at him when he got more annoying than usual, hehe.

Byakuya was stunned again, and a hope that was _so_ laced with pain that Kagome almost _cried_ filled his violet eyes. Oh, _poor Byakuya_ , he'd really thought that Kohaku thought of him like a _sibling_ and so he would absolutely _never_ have a chance; and despite this, still couldn't help but love him so deeply. Sess firmly agreed that this had to be rectified, immediately, if possible. “Please, 'ne-san, please... You _have_ to promise that if it's true! I still don't care if he never likes me back, not at all, and I wasn't lying when I answered you earlier either, but thinking there was never any chance at all... It _really_ hurt, 'ne-san.”

She held him close, letting him know how the situation actually was so that he wasn't hurting so badly any more now, “I **swear** it, Byakuya. Kohaku thinks of you as his best friend besides Mamoru, and that's it; he told this Kagome that he tried to think of you as a brother like he does for Roku and Sess, and he just couldn't – he thought that it made him less good as pack, and this Kagome gently corrected him that sometimes people weren't _meant_ to be family. I can't promise you have a chance, but I can promise you that you weren't out of the running before you even knew you liked him.”

Kagome might not have been expecting _this_ when she had a floating bubble of maple syrup pop over her and her physically youngest pack-mate, but she was glad it was something so easily remedied – and that it was something that gave her hope for the boy who'd been hurt and traumatised worse than any of them by the war with Naraku. This would be good for Kohaku, she just knew it.

“ _I have to admit; this turn of events pleases me as well, koi_ _shi_ _. This Sesshōmaru agreed with his mate about the cliché of having our_ _darke_ _r_ _brother end up with one of the female incarnations. He does not mind having the Kami drop the solution into our laps so neatly when the troublesome brother is the cause of it. You are right in thinking that it is incredibly fitting. It also makes sense, considering their interactions; we_ _truly_ _ought to have_ _expected for something like this to happen_ _._ ”

Yep, they really should have seen this coming and expected it. Oh well, that they hadn't meant they got a great surprise! One that solved quite a few problems very neatly and tidily, at that. Kagome sent a thanks up to the Kami for this, because she deeply appreciated it.

Byakuya was _calm_ again, and Kagome relaxed immensely with a sigh, kissing the crescent on his forehead once more before sliding out of his lap, “I'm glad to have been able to help you, little brother – and I'm happy about this situation, and immensely pleased that you are back to normal – now, no more playing with the syrup I bring back from the future again, kay?”

The illusionist grinned and nodded, “Gotcha, 'ne-san. This Byakuya promises to get your attention in a less annoying and aggravating manner in the future. Honestly, I just wanted to be _completely alone_ with you, and I knew the best way to do that was how I did – Sesshōmaru-ni doesn't count cos I wanted him there; but unless you were really pissed off you wouldn't make them all leave, a bath was the best place for us to have privacy, and I was going to burst if I couldn't tell you soon. Thank you very much for listening and helping 'ne-san; 'ni-san as well, because if he was unhappy with this you would have let me know, so thank you Sesshōmaru-ni for being okay with this Byakuya liking Kohaku; this Byakuya knows that Kohaku is special to you.”

Meaning he knew that Kohaku had been there _first_ , and had a previous connection with Sesshōmaru that meant he might have taken precedence – Sesshōmaru rightly could have been very defensive of anyone with feelings towards Kohaku.

It wasn't the case now though – because they _didn't_ run the pack like that. Hierarchy constantly changed in their pack, dependent on incredibly wide variables, and the only real constant besides that Kagome and Sesshōmaru were the alphas and Roku was the true beta was that there would never be an omega (not even _Jaken_ ) and most everyone was family and thus treasured. Not to mention, Sess _seriously_ had a soft spot for Byakuya (Kagome had _known_ he needed another yōkai in the pack, she could not believe how incredibly lucky she had been that that yōkai was Byakuya; he was _perfect_ for their pack and for Sess and Kohaku in particular); and Byakuya _knew_ it and was learning to take advantage of it. Apparently he still thought that Kohaku was more important, though.

“ _Inform the troublesome_ _little_ _brother that this Sesshōmaru will be conversing with him privately once the pack is together once more, and that he and I shall hunt for our dinner tonight._ ”

“Sess says he'll talk to you in private when he gets back – you will do the hunting for dinner with him tonight. I think he means to reassure you that you are his _little brother_ just as much as Kohaku is.”

The moth yōkai gave her an irrepressible grin and a courtly bow once he was dressed, “I'll go grab the others and let them know it's safe now, 'ne-san.”

She rolled her eyes and finished dressing herself with a sigh.

An alpha's work was _never_ done.

\- - -

**A/N:** HOLY CRAP I had _no idea_ this was going to happen (my muse has additional plans for Byakuya, they formed around halfway through chapter fourteen because my muse rocks), but I am _so incredibly pleased_ with the outcome of this chapter because it was bothering the fuck out of me trying to figure out how to make sure Kohaku at least had the opportunity for a relationship – even if he never takes it or knows about it – with someone that would one, not expect anything reciprocated; two, understand _intimately_ about Naraku; and three, _already_ have a bond of trust with him, instead of having to work to build a new one just to specifically have a relationship. I, like Kagome, _really_ did not want to put him with Kagura or Kanna – in part because I do not want anyone to just be around specifically to be a romantic interest for anyone else. Kagura and Kanna may or may not have a larger part in the story, but _none_ of my characters will be relegated to existing just to provide a love interest for a main character, even though love interest might end up being their initial or main purpose. They will _always_ have some deeper purpose and be integral for the pack or some other thing.

Byakuya's adorable (and _totally fucking unexpected,_ holy shit – my characters write themselves and I had no idea he was going to do _that_ when he told me he needed to talk to Kagome badly – I thought it had to do with those aforementioned additional plans, and I was every bit as surprised as Kagome was when he out and said he had a crush on Kohaku) confession took care of the problem _quite_ nicely. Especially because, although he _looks_ and often _acts_ more mature than Kohaku does, in all reality they are much closer to the same age in mind, if not Byakuya being _younger_ (or at least, less mature) than Kohaku, who is mentally _far_ more mature than his physical age of 14ish.


	19. Chapter 19

Kagome had decided that, considering it had been _many_ _moons_ and Sango **still** hadn't met Byakuya, and Toga _really_ needed to get to working on his son, it was time to get to where Sango was rebuilding her village.

A.S.A.P.

Oh, and Kagome, Sess, Toga, and Byakuya needed to take a private trip to see Bokusenō-sama. They would designate Roku as official beta for the duration of the trip (to be honest, if Roku actually used his place and rightly-earned and kept power in the pack, he would _always_ be beta; but Roku didn't want so much official responsibility, so it was more often that Byakuya or Kohaku took the position, switching back and forth every day or three) even though Kagome knew that he'd rather be going with them.

Kagome had confided in him that as capable as Kohaku was, she still would _never_ trust anyone else within the pack and not an alpha as easily with the safety of her pack and family as she trusted Roku. He had been most pleased with her confession and gracefully accepted the job despite still not wanting it. Kagome had thanked him profusely, kissed his cheek, and then went to let her little ones know that she needed to be on a special trip that they couldn't come on, but they _had_ to obey Roku while she and Papa were gone because he was beta.

Since the trip wouldn't be long (only three days, and she and Sess always secluded themselves away for four days a month during her fertile cycle) they had taken it surprisingly well.

Packing up for the trip went swiftly, in an organised manner that spoke of the frequency with which they broke camp on a regular basis. Almost everyone was pretty confused with what was going on – namely the sense of urgency that Kagome was spreading around the camp, but since Sesshōmaru surprisingly wasn't doing anything to dampen it, they simply complied; everyone travelling at their fastest speeds throughout the lands. This continued until the point at which the _rest_ of the pack made camp for the few days during which their alphas and other pack-mate would be leaving on this trip, travelling, and then returning. It was sweet how visibly worried Kohaku was, but also distressing, so Byakuya – who was the _only_ person besides Kagome who knew exactly what was going on; honestly so, even _Roku_ was unaware of anything beyond a general idea, because the problem didn't officially exist in this time period – gave his best friend a hug and _promised_ that he would be (because he couldn't honestly say he _was_ ) okay, this trip was just to confirm something that 'ne-san had found when she was checking him up after his last accident.

That promise did a lot to Kohaku – it was literally the first promise that Byakuya had made since coming back to life, and his confidence in being able to keep it visibly calmed Kohaku, leading Mamoru to thank the moth yōkai strongly for his help. It still didn't fix the worry but it definitely dampened it some.

Kagome thought that it wasn't just worry about his pack-mate and best friend's health that was going on here, although that was not only severe but also incurable right now – this would be the first time the two had been physically distant from each other for more than a few hours since they met. She was pretty sure that Kohaku was experiencing separation anxiety – but also absolutely positive that, although she could _fix_ it, he needed to get over this hurdle himself. Mamoru reluctantly agreed with her – Kohaku couldn't just have Kagome heal all of his trauma without him working through any of it, as much as everyone would prefer things to be otherwise. This was just something that the teenager would have to learn to grow past; regardless of whether or not Kohaku and Byakuya ever became anything beyond best friends, it was unhealthy to be co-dependent on a person like that unless you were tied together.

As far as anybody knew (or rather, as far as _Kagome_ knew, because she could _feel_ and _see_ soul-bonds, of which four and a half—one was developing for a surprising member—existed in her pack, three of those being  sibling types), the only person Kohaku was tied to was Mamoru; Byakuya, despite his feelings for Kohaku, wasn't tied to anyone by any official bonds, thank goodness. Pack, yes – but that was _chosen_. Not thrust upon him at birth with no choice. Yeah there'd been Naraku but that had been unnatural, forced, unwanted, and unwilling – and was completely obliterated now. Any connections he made with other people would be under only his own choice, and the illusionist was  strongly appreciative of that.

Kagome had a heavy suspicion that actual romantic soul-mates were incredibly uncommon – not just _finding_ each other, but _existing_ at all. The Kami wouldn't be so cruel as to bind every soul permanently with another one when they could go through dozens or hundreds of lives on the earth without ever being able to be with their other half. Yes there were the In Between lives, but even so – it was cruel. Every relationship they had would always be _never enough_ unless they got lucky and until the end of their existence on the physical plane. Kagome rather thought that the only time souls were bound together with a romantic bond was in their _very last_ life, and even then it was only with people who _needed_ that kind of bond in their life.

Neither Kagome nor Sesshōmaru, after their screwed up experiences with love, would have been able to be happy in a relationship with anything _less_ than a soul-mate who literally matched and fit them completely perfectly. Their mating bond was nice, but neither Kagome nor Sesshō actually needed it to be able to read each other – and hadn't since _well before_ they became mates. They weren't “two halves of one whole.” They were two wholes that _connected_ and _fit_ so perfectly that they became something completely new and unique.

She'd always thought that the “two halves of one whole” (because Sesshōmaru _was_ her “other half”, but just not in the way most people thought about it, so she had to say it the long way) idea of soul-mates was messed up. If they were two halves of one whole that would mean that no single trait could be repeated – so they would have to literally be complete opposites that were absolutely nothing alike. Relationships _did not_ and _could not_ work that way! Yes, opposites attracted, and people having wildly different and varying qualities often made for the best relationships, but at their very base they needed a _strong_ set of things that _connected_ them. They **had** to be similar enough that their differences wouldn't simply completely push them apart.

That had, essentially, been what made Kagome realise that she and her first love were not meant to be. They had so many overwhelming differences that the fragility of the things tying them together simply could not stand up to the weight of what was driving them apart. Which led to other things, which led to the realisation that Roku helped her with – they both deserved _better_. Although, Kagome could honestly admit to herself now that Roku had only been speaking on her behalf then – Inuyasha had been his friend, but one of those soul-bonds in their pack was between her and her beloved ani-san; something distinctly sibling-flavoured, but a little bit deeper and stronger than that. Once Kagome had realised that, she asked Sesshōmaru, who knew a lot more than he ever told her, if Roku would _ever_ go away from their pack to be on his own for more than a few days. His answer to that had been that no matter what other ties Roku made, the most important person in his life would _always_ be Kagome, and that had been the case almost since he met her. Not really answering exactly because one never knew, but definitely confirming her _behind the words_ query.

And then he promptly kept her from thinking too deeply about that – she needed to know the truth but not _that_ _ **deeper**_ truth, which would pain her immeasurably. Not that Kagome realised that was what was going on, of course. What she had been told had warmed her so fully and made her so indescribably happy that she realised that soul-bonds did not have to be romantic in order to make you feel like your life was more _whole_ for having that person in it. Sesshōmaru had latched onto that thought and kissed down the side of her ear, his mind voice thrumming with approval at her happiness as he told her that she was absolutely correct and that, actually, the reason that Roku had made him wait so long to mark him as pack was because he wanted Sesshōmaru to realise this without telling him – because only by _showing_ him that the relationship was so deep could he be completely honest with the yōkai.

That sufficiently distracted Kagome and she was pleased with her brother's cleverness, honour, and honesty. She was _also_ , she informed him, beyond pleased that her mate was capable of accepting something like that. Her pleasure with him lasted until she sourly informed him that Inuyasha had always tried to sabotage her interactions with Roku, even though they were never anything less than wholly chaste. Not even _Sango_ had felt threatened by the inordinate amount of time Roku, Kagome, and Shippō spent together.

Sesshōmaru told her that it was probably due to his tangled instincts, which made Kagome remember her thoughts long ago about Inuyasha ignoring his instincts, and her recent, driven conviction that _that_ was the true problem here. So she called Toga over and turned in her lover's lap, looking between the two daiyōkai seriously. “I think I know what's wrong with Inuyasha – beyond the obvious matter of him just being stupid and stubborn when it comes to me. This is half of why I am taking you with us to see Bokusenō-sama, Toga. I am sure you can fix this if you know how to do so, and I am every last bit as sure that Bokusenō-sama can tell you how to do so.”

That -sama needed to _go_ , it didn't deserve to be there, but Kagome would think about that later, _later_ , right now this was **more important**.

They looked curiously at her, and that encouraged her to plough forward. “I already suspected what was going on for a while before now; a vague suspicion for over a year and a stronger suspicion for about six sennights, but I came to the realisation that it _had_ to be what was going on, after the _dream_ with that hanyō boy before the last village. He grew up with both parents instructing him on which kinds of feelings belonged to which part of him, how to interpret the mixing of them, and all _sorts_ of other things that would be impossible for any ningen to know without their yōkai partner to help them through it with. If you think about it, the hanyō that yōkai always tend to have problems with are the ones raised with only one parent or on their own – most often just a ningen parent – whereas most yōkai are surprised at and accepting of those hanyō that are raised with both parents; sometimes not even noticing that the person even _is_ a hanyō if they don't manifest extra appendages.”

Both of the men blinked, following her thoughts but not quite understanding what she was getting at, which, despite being aggravating, was also reasonable because they hadn't spent two and a half _year_ _s_ almost constantly surrounded by the hanyō's presence. “Inuyasha was only raised with a _n_ _ingen_ parent, one who treated him and taught him just as she would have a _n_ _ingen_ child, and it is stupidly obvious that for the most part, the only yōkai instincts he  ever listens to consistently right now are the ones that keep him alive. Hunting, tracking, hiding, running, base ability for self-defence... If he'd _actually_ been listening to all of his instincts, he would have treated me like his alpha, after all, because even if I was physically powerless, those subjugation beads _forced_ me into alpha position, due to the fact that they gave me the ultimate power over him in the end.”

Her father and mate were considering _very hard_ right now, so Kagome continued, because she _knew_ with an absolute certainty that this was why Inuyasha had a blind spot directly concerning _her_ but not anybody else – concerning the reason for his treatment of her, this made everything fit together and meld perfectly into a single whole picture of the past and present. “He always suffered bouts of guilt where he started being nice to me for a little while or getting me things or even once, apologising – after which he treated me _worse than_ _ever_ , exactly like someone would have if they had literally been hurting and been forced into doing certain actions they didn't want to do in order to relieve the pain. Being put into a situation like that makes you lash out at the perceived cause of the initial pain. If his yōkai instincts were informing him that he was treating me _wrong_ but he was ignoring them because he was ignoring the guilt over why he was treating me like that to begin with...”

Toga finished the sentence very firmly, “They would eventually cause him intense mental pain, pain that would refuse to cease until he obeyed them, and then slide back into the background until it built up again. It is even more likely that this is the case because, if I'm remembering correctly from what you showed me, daughter, he always thought of anything even remotely emotional as a _ningen_ weakness – not realising that yōkai are actually very intensely _more_ emotional than ningen because of our instincts; at least most beast yōkai are. We're just taught how to control and keep track of our instincts because allowing them to control us can turn us into bloodthirsty, murderous monsters. This Toga applauds your cleverness, daughter; it is strongly likely that Inuyasha believes he is ignoring his _ningen_ instincts, rather than his _yōkai_ instincts, and ignoring them quite on purpose, not even accidentally.”

Kagome sighed in relief, “That's half of why I'm taking you with us to see Bokusenō-sama; I'm positive he knows how you can fix this _immediately_ , so that Inuyasha literally _cannot_ ignore his instincts. That will keep him from relapsing, teach him a much-needed lesson, and more importantly, make it so that he is actually _able_ to learn what you will be trying to teach him, instead of bouncing back and forth between learning and forgetting.”

Sesshōmaru flinched ever so slightly, and Kagome looked at him worriedly as he sighed softly. “Father is very capable of doing such a thing without needing the involvement of Bokusenō. The effects are immediate, overwhelming, and the most painful thing that this Sesshōmaru has ever experienced during his long life. It also taught this Sesshōmaru an incredibly valuable and necessary lesson, which is that _control_ of one's instincts is far superior to _suppression_ of one's instincts; and, moreover, far safer as well. Suppression can kill when the instincts finally explode.”

The temporally-displaced miko decided very carefully that she was Not. Going. To. Ask. Because she had _experienced_ an **enormous** amount of her mate's life during the nights of her first sennight _as_ his mate; most of which were integral moments that completely shaped him into the person he was – and if that incident had not been among those moments, there would be a _damn good reason_ for it. Her mate sighed into her mind, licked a stripe up her neck, and nuzzled into her hair, “ _Thank you, Kagome. The incident is something this one can and will never forget, but_ _it_ _is also painful enough that this one cannot think or talk about it easily, if at all._ ”

She smiled and cuddled into his chest, “ _And I shan't ask Toga even though he'd tell me; I don't need to know – it isn't important because it_ _clear_ _ly did not shape your life any more deeply than the very obvious effect of teaching you that control is superior. Yes, it is an important lesson, but also a very straightforward lesson._ ”

Toga was staring at them interestedly and Kagome simply shrugged and answered his curiosity – her Sess had _definitely_ inherited that trait from his father, in spades, although he was far more subtle about it than Toga was. She understood that very well, though – due to how young he was when he inherited his father's duties, he did not have the immense reserves of power that were the _only_ thing that allowed Toga to ditch his mask permanently whilst in court, or so it seemed. Sesshōmaru had already been colder, more reserved, and more controlled than his father – but he had to _perfect_ it into a carefully affixed mask, to keep from being torn apart by the sharks in his father's courts once he took up the rule of his lands. “I was just informing my mate that I didn't want or care to know what happened to cause you to have to do such a thing.”

The older daiyōkai looked surprised – and then _contrite_ , “I really shouldn't be surprised; you read people instinctively. Of course you wouldn't pry. I think even if you had asked me, I would have waited for permission from my son to tell you; it is not my place to let you know such a thing, even though there are few, if any, secrets between you two.”

That made her mate relax minutely, and he murmured a clear, “Thank you, Father.”

Toga shrugged and continued speaking, “I'll get that done once we go meet the whelp, provided there's a secure place and a _ningen_ that he trusts who can watch over and take care of him for the, oh... hmm, mentally fifteen, but physically twenty... Could go either way, really... I'd say about four or five days that he'll be out of commission.”

Sesshōmaru was clearly surprised, “So long? It is not as if he was ignoring _all_ of his instincts, only a select few. Or is there more to this than this Sesshōmaru can see?”

“It's because our emotional instincts affect _all_ of our instincts, and are so intertwined with our state of mind and mental health that they affect all of our bodily processes – Kagome, how often did Inuyasha sleep, if you can give me an estimate?”

She answered promptly, “Far less than I know he needed to, around four hours a sennight, if that – even Sess needs more sleep than that, and he's a full yōkai instead of only a hanyō!”

“The rest of his instincts are trying to compensate for those not being used, but in doing so, they are causing him to feel constantly on-edge and in danger of attack.”

Toga looked at Kagome curiously again when she failed to react to that, and she shrugged, leaning her side into her mate's chest and nuzzling his neck, comfortably fitting her head under his chin by allowing her body to relax and slouch some. “I don't feel sorry for him, he brought it on himself. He might have been ignorant of the base problem causing such a reaction, but he was only ignoring his instincts so terribly to begin with because he was treating me like trash and they were furious because yōkai don't treat women like that. And even ningen treated me a hundred times better once they found out I had miko powers. _Everybody_ treated me more respectfully and decently than he did, even Kōga, who treated me like a _thing_ to be _owned_ in addition to a person. Considering that I did  absolutely nothing to merit such treatment, and that he treated everyone else _far_ better than me, he was singling me out and purposely attempting to hurt me – and succeeding far too well at his endeavour. So, he brought this on himself and wholly and completely deserves the repercussions of his actions.”

That actually stopped both males short, and they looked at each other, then at her. Toga was the one who spoke out loud, though, “For how long have you known this, daughter?”

She blinked, confused at their reaction, “Ever since not very long after I woke up the day after the dojo incident; it's why I was able to become so furious with him despite hurting so badly. Why else do you think I had never once asked Kohaku how Inuyasha was doing when we visited him, back then? I pretty much lost the ability to give any fucks about his life or welfare until he accepts that his actions were horrible, abusive, and completely uncalled for, to an extreme. Not to mention, basically unforgivable. He hasn't Naraku-level pissed me off to the point I am actively wishing harm upon his person, but I don't honestly care about him at all any more, my care has all been burned away by anger and then faded into genuine disinterest.

“I really only want you to teach him his lessons so he doesn't hurt anyone else, because I'm well aware that it could take many decades for him to have the courage to apologise even once they are learned, and I don't even know if I want his apology any more, for myself anyway. Granted, the disinterest is pretty recent – I'd say _that_ began once I realised why he was so twisted around about me; _actually_ comprehended the ramifications of Sango's theory. Because it wasn't even _me_ he was trying to hurt; it was _Kikyō_ and  Kikyō is my **friend** and deserves so much better than what she was fated in her life, the idea of him hurting her like he hurt me – the thought that he was _trying_ to hurt her when he was hurting me... Unacceptable. It is completely and wholly unacceptable and deplorable in the extreme.”

The confusion in the air cleared up the very moment that she said the words “Kikyō is my friend,” and Kagome realised that the source of their confusion was because Kagome never reacted like that towards actions against _herself_ ; only to other people, and there weren't visibly other people involved in how he treated her, other than witnesses. _In_ visibly, however...

Kagome _really_ wanted revenge for the woman who had helped her so much in her _dreams_ , who taught her everything she could, helped Kagome come to grips with her destiny and immortality, suggested Kagome ask Shippō for ideas of how to use her ki since it couldn't be used like normal spiritual ningen ki could... and she instinctively knew that the best revenge was simply _not caring any more_. Because caring meant he still had some power to affect her, some hold on her, that he  mattered to her, and until he was willing to apologise not only for his actions towards her, but for the _reason_ he had begun those actions in the first place (thus apologising to **Kikyō** , although, admittedly, Inuyasha actually being willing to apologise to Kikyō would be far more satisfying)...

Giving him that power meant that she was excusing him for what he did, and as of realising last week that he was trying to hurt Kikyō, Kagome _refused_ to do that any more.

Triumph that was _breathtaking_ in its intensity and beauty **sang** through her mind, and her mate shoved pride and love and a sense of rightness at her that Kagome realised meant he had known that this was the case, but refused to force her into the realisation. This entire time, he had been patiently allowing her to continue caring for the hanyō even though it was blatantly  wrong of her to do so if she truly felt his actions were completely inexcusable like she had insisted she did. Never once resenting her for it, or chiding her for it, and even going so far as to accept that she might _never_ learn this valuable lesson that he had learned so young, that was an integral yōkai lesson.

But now that she had, he had never been so proud in his life.

The feeling was so intense that Kagome _had_ to hide her face in his shoulder, against his haori – not from embarrassment, but because she _had_ to dull her physical senses so that she could drown herself in the amazingness she was being inundated with. It was _addicting_ , _fuck_. Kami, no  wonder Sess had been so happy when Toga admitted his pride, if it felt like _this_ to know that someone you loved dearly was proud of you.

She was very distantly aware of Toga asking what happened, Sesshōmaru explaining how thoroughly she had learned this lesson that was _integral_ for yōkai, and Toga chuckling, telling his son not to let the chance to spirit her off to celebrate whilst she was overwhelmed get away.

Since camp had been set up, the children were fishing for dinner, an alpha was present, they weren't leaving to visit the old tree until _tomorrow_ , and they absolutely deserved to celebrate this triumph, Sesshōmaru quite eagerly listened to his father.

\- - -

Toga smiled as his son whisked his mate away for a well-deserved impromptu celebration. Kagome thoroughly deserved a reward; he wasn't sure what to do to reward her until he saw the illusionist heading towards him. Ah, right – that was a problem that he could probably help with, in one way or another, because there were two items concerning the boy that Toga knew were affecting his daughter; one of which was, in fact, affecting every damn member of the pack, quite severely – even _Jaken_ was visibly and actively worried, and _not bothering_ to hide it, which was  seriously saying something. The younger-than-he-looked moth yōkai sat down next to him and motioned in the direction his alphas had left with a smirk, “We still leaving tomorrow morning, or is Sesshōmaru-ni going to be keeping Kagome-ne imprisoned for some unexpected reason?”

At times like this he seemed much more mature than Toga had witnessed the boy to actually be – unsurprising, given his history. He strongly suspected that it was linked to the problem he had with his yōki control; certainly the flip-flopping between his apparent ages was almost completely uncontrollable and unintentional at this point, unlike the only occasional lack of control that had been present when Toga first met him – and very much unlike the taijiya's _definitel_ _y_ intentional switches between his younger and older sides.

And speaking of the taijiya... Time to bring him up and take a look at _that_ situation, first off, since the other was presumably going to be taken care of with the visit to Bokusenō; Toga would only ask about it if this one could not be (or already had been) rectified. “Hmm, we should still be leaving in the morning; my daughter has simply finally learned that caring for people gives them power over you, and the best revenge for certain things is to simply stop caring. I do believe you had to learn this lesson yourself, with the help of your good friend?”

“Ah, yeah. That's a hard lesson to learn because anger makes you want to _hurt_ them and you don't realise that allowing your emotions to control you is allowing _them_ to control you. Yeah, Kohaku taught me that really early on into knowing him, when I was wondering why _he_ wasn't so damn angry with Naraku for everything he'd put him through the way I was angry at being enslaved from the moment I was created.”

Toga nodded at the young yōkai and tilted his head some. He was well aware of the reason why Byakuya had been acting out that day that Kagome demonstrated exactly how alpha (and yet again, how actively terrifying) she could be to not only the entire pack but four visiting yōkai that had previously been Toga's retainers, and Kagome likely was, too... But absolutely nothing had changed, despite a moon having passed, so Toga needed to know exactly _what_ was going on – the taijiya was mentally old enough, and Byakuya was a yōkai; when they wanted something they did their damn best to get it. So either he was _running away_ , which was unacceptable, or there was something deeper here that Toga was unaware of.

He considered what would work best, and decided that despite his conversation partner being sly like a kitsune, direct confrontation would work best in this situation. He threw up a barrier that would not block their voices, but simply make it so that what was being said turned unintelligible, and turned towards the boy. “Why is it that you have not begun to pursue the taijiya?”

Byakuya paled for a moment, then chuckled wryly, rubbing the back of his head and suddenly appearing much younger than he had been acting previously – still adult; maybe late teens, but definitely younger. He was intelligent though, and Toga immediately, after the boy began talking, changed his mind – definitely not running away, as he didn't even _attempt_ to disseminate or delay the line of questioning. “Hahaha, you're so laid back, most of the time I forget you're an alpha. Right. So, I think the best way to explain is to ask this... How much do you know about Kohaku's past? I mean, obviously it isn't _enough_ , but still, I need to know.”

“Only that he was under Naraku's control and that his sister is Kagome's heart-sister. I think he travelled with my son for a time? What she has informed me of had a lot more to do with how certain people in her life interacted with each other, not really the stories of their lives.”

Excepting for her own story and that of his sons, of course, but Byakuya didn't need to know that – Toga respected their privacy. “If this is sensitive and you are unable to tell this one...”

He allowed for an interruption there, and Byakuya shook his head firmly, “Oh, no. It isn't sensitive, or private, or anything like that. Everyone here knows by now, and it's actually _really_ integral that you know, as well. Not just so that you don't put your foot in your mouth, as Kagome-ne would say, at some point in the future, but because _everyone_ who knows is one more person who can help him, simply by their knowledge.”

That was... Intriguing, and Toga motioned to the moth yōkai to continue.

“I'm not gonna go into details or timelines, you don't need to know all that shit and I don't know all that shit anyhow. The only _important_ thing for you to realise is how damaged, and unbelievably **strong** , Kohaku is. When he was eleven years old, Kohaku was on a taijiya mission and the guy who hired them turned out to be Naraku in disguise; he took control of Kohaku and forced him to murder all of his companions. Naraku then used a Shikon shard to resurrect and control him, brainwashing him and wiping his memory of his previous life.

“Kohaku instinctively fought back against Naraku despite his young age – he regained his memories several times during his tenure as Naraku's slave, and even was able to break free enough to refuse to complete his missions on occasion – I'm not positive _how_ many times, but I know that at least once he was involved in kidnapping Rin and supposed to kill her, and he outright refused to do it. He was constantly forced to attack his own sister, and sometimes Naraku would purposely allow him to regain his memories in the middle of a fight, but still be controlling him to attack her. Naraku also frequently used him as bait for their group and as a meat-shield to prevent them from attacking himself, while still defending themselves against Kohaku.”

The first thing that Toga felt was an extreme surprise that a ningen had the kind of fortitude to get through those experiences with even a **modicum** of sanity left. _Especially_ one so young. Kohaku was blatantly sane and level-headed, his “age changes” were purposeful, and Toga had never known the reasons behind them, but known that they were good for the entire pack. Now he understood _why_. The young ningen had never had the chance to experience that sort of a childhood he deserved after Naraku, and was taking the chance, now that he had it. He wasn't so crass as to _ask_ why or how Kohaku was sane, because he was completely positive he knew how the boy had managed it. “Kagome?”

One word was all that was needed. Byakuya nodded seriously. “For as long as they travelled together, she used her powers to subdue and heal a lot of the damage, as well as permanently blunting the edges of a good number of his nightmares, and thus, his bad memories. He never knew the extent of her abilities, so he never mentioned it to the rest of the pack, although his sister had very slight suspicions, and Roku-ni knows everything, so he obviously was aware as well. Sango encouraged him to join this pack because she knew that being around her, with all those memories, wasn't helping him, and that until they have some more time and distance between them, their relationship can't be what she wants it to be.

“She's also been made intimately aware of the difficulties that he will have with relationships with other people, although she was really hurt by it. Even now he still doesn't really trust himself completely, though being with the pack, Sesshōmaru-ni, and Mamoru have helped with that a _lot_. He travelled with Sesshōmaru-ni before he rejoined Kagome-ne's pack a bit before the final battle, and trusts himself more around him because he knows for sure he can't harm him at all, no matter how hard he tries. He isn't faster, stronger, or smarter than Sesshōmaru-ni. And Mamoru followed him pretty much his whole life and saw every damn thing he did and still wholly accepts him, so you can imagine the kind of effect _that_ has on Kohaku.”

That explained a lot, but Toga was curious as to something – which meant he had to find out the answer, of course. He had a suspicion, due to the boy's breed and inherent instincts when it came to romantic relationships, but Byakuya was inu enough that those trained instincts might subsume them. “So, what do you intend to do?”

Byakuya gave him a helpless smile that made him seem so very young, and yet so very impossibly old at the same time. “Be with him, of course. Be whatever he needs me to be, for as long as he wants me around. If he ever feels the same I will be ecstatic, but I'm not expecting or hoping for anything of the sort. His friendship alone makes me deliriously happy. I only acted out because I _had_ to tell alphas and make sure they knew, and that I was told what I could and couldn't do.

“Luckily for everyone I was aware _well_ before I fell for Kohaku that it could be decades or never before he is ready to even think about that kind of interest, and that I daren't actually act on my feelings in an overtly obvious way. I got some good advice, Kagome-ne suggested I tell Roku-ni and Mamoru about it, explained why I should tell them, and it's helped a lot because I can't just only confide in Kagome-ne or Sesshōmaru-ni about it; they have more important things to do and plus that is insulting to my pack-mates not to trust them. My reservations were reasonable, but they were corrected, and that's the situation now. You know there will never be anyone else for me, because my instincts picked him, and moths are beyond monogamous once their instincts pick someone.”

“I must admit that I am impressed with your fortitude as well as his. You are a credit to your pack, Byakuya. I hope this trip to Bokusenō allows me to fix whatever is wreaking havoc on your yōki and mental control.”

Toga was incredibly pleased with how stunned Byakuya seemed – and how rapidly he recovered from his astonishment. “Duh; there're only so many reasons 'ne-san would invite you along when you still have a job to do that you could start on a hell of a lot faster if you left to start that while we take this side trip, so of course you'd deduce why she wants you along. Is she even bothering to try and keep it a secret from you?”

“Not my purpose, the reasons behind it, however, are startlingly unclear.”

Byakuya looked visibly worried for a spare moment – the first time Toga had _ever_ seen such an emotion pass over the former incarnation's face; hell, it was rare to see any sort of negative emotion there, pretty much ever. If he wasn't being positive or serious, he always appeared calm or somewhat amused, regardless of what situation he was in. That was partly why his eldest son favoured the yōkai so. “Well, the last explosion I had made 'ne-san examine me with her reiki to see if it's something wrong with my _body_ that's causing the problems I've been having... Since she hasn't told you what's causing the problem, _I_ won't either, but Kagome-ne is positive that Inuyasha isn't the only reason you got sent back – she thinks I'm the other reason, and that Bokusenō can probably tell you and Sesshōmaru-ni and Kagome-ne how to fix me.

“She's also completely positive—you guys didn't have a barrier up before, and I wasn't really listening in, but it was pretty clear that you already know how to fix whatever's wrong with mutt-face—that there is no way you can know how to fix this already because she says problems like this – well, these, there's two things wrong; Kohaku's got one of them but she says that was inevitable, mine was too so it wont go away – haven't been discovered yet, not amongst ningen anyhow. Actually, I think she already knows how to fix the problem, but just wants a second opinion, and intends to get it by demanding answers, hahaha. 'Ne-san went full alpha bitch when she realised what was wrong because she says it could have been fixed before it became a problem if Bokusenō had warned her that the power that brought us back might make us unstable, and that he _definitely_ knew that it might do so. So I'm expecting a show when she gets there – you and Sesshōmaru-ni might wanna step back. She got so mad she almost _purified_ me.”

He didn't actually sound frightened, so the risk must not actually have been very great (or he knew about the exposure rule – long-term close exposure to a person's ki largely eliminated the ability to receive negative effects from it) – it was probably more like her miko-ki reacted so strongly to the problem that it flared out significantly without her willing it, which, to his knowledge, her miko-ki hadn't reacted to her emotions uncontrollably in a couple years. Which meant that this was going to be _highly_ entertaining. As far as Toga knew, Bokusenō had never had somebody scold him before; especially nobody who would be able to cause the tree physical pain. Kagome could easily use her purification on him to hurt him, however, and he _was_ , unfortunately, arrogant enough in his old age that he wouldn't think she was coming to be angry with him, if she wasn't being overtly angry on her way there, and Toga'd had no idea she was angry until now, so...

He chuckled and shook his head, “I am very much looking forwards to this; even if it is a short encounter, the old magnolia has never to my knowledge been taken to task.”

Byakuya was incredibly serious suddenly, and he shook his head, “That is very bad. I know from intimate experience that powerful people who never get their mistakes corrected end up making more and more mistakes until they cause irreparable damage. They either get themselves killed, or they seriously harm other people, or both, like Naraku did...”

He looked away for a moment, then gave Toga a direct stare, “Ane-san will probably not tell you this, not unless Bokusenō pisses her off enough to blurt it out, because she doesn't like to make people think badly of others, but what is wrong with me has the potential to kill me, _and_ other people,  and is severely damaging my mind. And she is what she calls one hundred percent positive that Bokusenō could have prevented this – and would have, if he'd been the one to bring us back, instead of Seimei pulling on the magic to do it herself. She doesn't know if he was so shocked he forgot, or he was unhappy with things not going how he wanted, though she thinks it's probably the former, but she knows that he can see things and has probably been watching us closely and the fact that he still never said anything even though he saw how I was acting is really bothering her. _Especially_ because the problem began to show itself, even if only a little, by the time we introduced Kohaku to Bokusenō, and he could have told Kagome-ne then.”

Toga rumbled a low, displeased growl. He was very fond of Bokusenō, but Toga had noticed that he had a wisdom complex that meant he would _make_ people seek him out for answers, even when he could tell them more easily before they asked... _a_ _nd_ that his age and connection with the earth meant his views on things were not even _yōkai_ any more, even less than they had already been due to his status as a tree. Unlike Kagome, however, who took more notice and interfered more as she was changing rapidly into something not her previous species, Bokusenō was interfering less unless it directly affected him.

His daughter had every right to be furious, and Toga himself was most displeased. He'd been fond of the moth yōkai from the beginning, after all – honestly, had the boy been more stable and less attached to the taijiya he would have been tempted to try and swindle his children into allowing him use of the boy for a few moons; he was remarkably adept with his abilities and could seriously help with his recalcitrant son.

He wouldn't even think of that, now. Because he knew what the boy himself hadn't realised yet, and Toga was too kind to inform Byakuya of it right at this moment. If Kagome knew for a fact that whatever was affecting him had “the potential” to kill him... She only knew that because it already _was_ doing so; even if she was only subconsciously aware of that fact. Ningen were different, but yōkai were such that you could only tell they could die by something outside of direct attack if it was either a known thing, like a poison or drug, or if it was already killing them.

If worst came to worst, Toga would use the inborn family ability he had that allowed his fang to create Tenseiga – the ability to take over a being's body and rebuild it from the inside out, eradicating anything that had the potential to harm them in the process. If necessary he would enlist Sesshōmaru's help – he had the ability latently or would not have been able to have Tōtōsai craft Seimei, and was more intimately familiar with Byakuya; it would be easy to speed-educate his son on how to access and use the ability. Yes, it would be a shame to not be the only yōkai to be able to do such a thing any more, but that was nothing compared to the price of a life so dearly treasured.

Toga also understood his daughter's wisdom in keeping her mate in the dark as to this – Sesshōmaru was far more attached to his “troublesome brother” than he seemed to be, and everyone was aware of this, including Byakuya himself, who shamelessly used the fact to his advantage. There was an incredibly high likelihood that his daughter would try to get the information necessary without involving either of them – Toga would intervene there. Displeasure from _him_ was far more likely to wake the old tree up to the damage he was inadvertently causing than just her; she was not an old friend being directly harmed by his actions, after all.

Suddenly Sesshōmaru was walking into their camp, and Toga dispelled the barrier with a grin. Kagome was completely flushed, still panting, and her mokomoko was twitching madly. _Someone_ had fun while they were gone. Still; he needed to talk to her. “Byakuya, please inform your alpha that I need to talk to his mate; Kagome will make her displeasure known to my old friend, but it will not affect him as deeply as _my_ displeasure will... and she needs to know that, because I am _very_ displeased, and not willing to allow her to attempt to take care of this problem herself.”

The moth yōkai had a look of extreme vindication on his face for five full seconds before it disappeared and he went to obey his “father” with delight.

\- - -

**A/N:** Before anyone gets upset with me, no I haven't made and will not make Bokusenō into a bad guy or power-hungry or even really that manipulative; he is simply so much _more_ than mortal – and normal yōkai are most definitely mortal – that he doesn't think on the same track of actions and consequences any more. Even worse because even from the _beginning_ he was a freaking **tree**. It is very often decades before he sees the effect his actions have on the world and the people involved; very rarely does he see them so rapidly after they happen. Not to mention, he has never actually felt guilt before, because any negative consequences never affected him directly until now.

Also; he genuinely was just so shocked he forgot to mention to Kagome... _B_ _ut_ he knows now, and is trying to make her seek him out. The only thing making her do so is fear that she might be wrong about how to fix Byakuya, or she'd not involve Bokusenō at all, just to spite him. As it is, he'll learn a lesson from this, and as a result, start helping more people, more often, and with better results. Because he'll be thinking more like a being than an immovable piece of the world. (I actually really love Bokusenō and was displeased that this happened in my fic –  Byakuya was planned out by my muse, Bokusenō's _actions_ were **_not_** – but I don't write my characters, they use me to write themselves, as seen with the previous chapter. And with Inuyasha. And a few other things, too. However, I honestly feel this could become a problem with any being that is such as Bokusenō is, so it's useful – he's always portrayed as infallible in the fics I've read with him in them, and that does bug me sometimes: **nobody** is infallible.)


	20. Chapter 20

A barrier was up, and his daughter was listening to him, taking his point of view into account, and agreeing that he should help her confront Bokusenō; if not completely engineer the beginning of the confrontation to their benefit. It was most pleasant, most pleasant indeed.

Now “they” just had to figure out what to do about Sesshōmaru. Luckily for Kagome, Toga knew exactly how to do that. “Tell Sesshōmaru that you do not wish for Byakuya to actually enter the glade proper unless he has to, and ask if he will stay with the boy. I can easily educate him on what to do if your idea is wrong but Bokusenō knows another way to rectify whatever is wrong with him... Although, Kagome... This one _is_ curious... Seimei would not be of use?”

That little fact had been bothering him ever since Kagome huffed at him and asked him how much he'd managed to get out of the illusionist by telling him how much he _already_ knew. She was well used to his subtle manipulations by now, although they still had yet to work on her; Kagome seemed immune to such things. It certainly made life more interesting, that was for damn sure.

But really; Seimei was far superior to Tenseiga and really ought to be able to cure any ailments his troublesome son had just with a couple swipes of her blade.

Kagome _hissed_ then, a furious sound that gave Toga the impression that she would like nothing more than to break his old friend into kindling and burn every last piece until there was nothing but ash left.

Wow.

Toga had not realised that such a sound could be made by someone who was as kind-hearted as Kagome was, despite her blatant temper.

His daughter was quite frightening when she was protecting someone she loved. She was terrifying anyhow, but it was severely magnified in a situation such as this.

“Tenseiga and Seimei will not work, they never could and never would, and that fucking tree is _well aware of this_ , the asshole. They would not work even if he _dies_ , Toga. And despite the spell he is tied to us with _he might die_ right now. If I were to use Seimei he would be resurrected with the exact same problem, it would kill him _again_ , and _again_ , until I can't use her any more, and I refuse to do that to my little brother. He deserves _stability_ , not—not **this**!”

Toga weighed his options and decided to indulge the more relevant curiosity first. It might affect his ability to use his inherited power on the boy, after all. “Why will Seimei and Tenseiga have no effect on him even if he dies?”

“Because the only time Byakuya's body has been undamaged by this problem is when we were in the other dimension where he came into existence – the moment he came into this dimension and his body came into existence _here_ , the instability came into being as well. Seimei cannot fix what is the body's natural state, even if it dies because of the condition it is in, and even if that natural state is inherently flawed. She can not fix deformities or genetic defects, as in problems that pass from parent to child and affect the entire bloodline from the moment of birth; this is essentially a genetic defect only it wasn't _inherited_ , it was created. Seimei tried her _hardest_ to fix him but it had absolutely no effect whatsoever.”

After having been _shown_ the experience Kagome had in that other dimension, Toga understood her ire even more. Bokusenō was essentially very good-hearted; he just tended to act all-knowing even when he didn't have enough information to go on. And that caused mistakes like attempting to get Kagome to take the incarnations back with her... By having them, effectively, _leashed_ to her. It wasn't an attempt to be cruel; he simply did not know Kagome enough to realise what an affront this would be to her sensibilities, or how utterly insulted and infuriated she would be by even the merest suggestion she would allow such an occurrence. Nor could he really comprehend why, even if it hadn't angered her, such a track would be _wholly wrong_ ; because Toga was well aware of the results Bokusenō had been going for and the tree yōkai himself was not actually aware of them, seeing as he didn't know much about that spell. Bokusenō only knew an outline of its workings; Toga had purposely kept his knowledge incomplete under the illusion that with incomplete knowledge he would not attempt to use the spell – being proven wrong was _most_ unpleasant.

Her blade's actions had kept her potential fury tamped down during that episode, but now it was back; along with a whole lot more due to this latest problem... Because Kagome could apparently _very_ _easily_ recognise that Bokusenō was attempting to force her to go to him.

Only a deep fear that her thoughts on curing whatever was wrong with Byakuya might be incorrect was allowing this trip; Toga intended to fix that fear, right after he found out exactly what was wrong, because he was aware that Kagome was likely only keeping the actual ailments secret because of thoughtlessness, due to the fact that they wouldn't instinctively understand them like someone in her era would. “What is he suffering from, exactly? The names, what they do, and how they are causing the yōki imbalance.”

He was well aware by now that when she “checked over” someone with her reiki or miko-ki, the information that was given to her was dependent on her having knowledge of the problem _existing at all_ ; with the abundance of knowledge in her era, her admittance that she had been intending to study to go into treatment of the body for injuries, ailments, and illnesses if she had been forced to return to her own era, and not actually needing a knowledge of how the body worked to be able to divine or fix the problem... It meant she was essentially a walking miracle waiting to happen to anyone she came into contact with. It was also _incredibly_ clear why she had actively decided to only use her powers to an extremely limited extent beyond infusing them into items she gave to or made for others; food or tea were very common for her to infuse her healing abilities into.

She'd confided in him and Sesshōmaru that she was intending on asking for some books on the ningen body – the workings of it, physical ailments, and what she called “mental illnesses” – so that she could study them and be able to fix problems without only using her ki alone. She knew a good bit more than anyone else in this time, and his son had expressed blatant (but incredibly pleased) surprise that she was intending to became even _more_ knowledgeable, but to her what she already knew wasn't enough because she still might do more harm than good. That opinion was clearly affecting this situation.

Kagome sighed and he watched her body slump slightly; this was _really_ disturbing her – usually when she was not sitting in her mate's lap she had impeccable posture. “The first is what Kohaku suffers from, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short. PTSD is _developed_ , and even yōkai can suffer from it, although they do much less often due to the nature of their constitutions and how yōkai are raised, essentially, to be able to handle things that would thoroughly traumatise ningen.

“The name pretty much describes PTSD well, it is the effects that trauma has on the body when stress after the traumatic incident, or incident _s,_ is experienced to a noticeable extent. Life in general is stressful enough even in the modern era for these things to affect the person with PTSD regularly and frequently. General symptoms are severe nightmares, flashbacks, difficulty connecting with people, difficulty trusting others, difficulty trusting oneself, severe reactions to actions or situations that bring back feelings one experienced during the trauma, an obsessive need to control one's actions and/or the actions of others around oneself, and a whole slew of other things; there are far too many varied symptoms to list them all.

“Kohaku is pretty much _completely_ textbook; he has a huge amount of the symptoms, most of them incredibly obvious. However he has developed a very healthy coping strategy for his PTSD by allowing himself to segment off his different aspects. We have  taijiya Kohaku, who is more adult, inured to violence, evil machinations, and disturbing thoughts... Then we have pack Kohaku, who is younger, more innocent and child-like, and more relaxed. He did this on purpose, with the intent to allow himself to be able to have fun and grow up with a small sense of normalcy. I encouraged this because I know that as he gets older and heals more on his own this split will heal itself and go away on its own. His sides will merge and he'll be more whole, essentially, because he did this in the first place.”

Some of the terms she used were unfamiliar, but she got her point across incredibly well, and Toga hummed and nodded; he could see that, and suspected she was going somewhere important with the example of how he dealt with it, considering that Byakuya had a similar age-split, only his was very much uncontrolled and uncontrollable, unlike Kohaku's, but wanted first to find out about Byakuya's version of this disorder, “And our troublesome illusionist?”

She waved a hand in the air, “His PTSD is _far_ more subtle. It might actually be quite a bit more severe than Kohaku's is, despite his lesser amount of bad experiences and a lesser severity of them, simply due to his complete and total abhorrence of being controlled in any way whatsoever. He has admitted to me that that complex existed from the very moment of his creation. Not to mention that any time he slept, nightmares and very disturbing visions were poured into his mind in an attempt to keep him from rebelling. But... He hides it so very well that it is impossible to tell whether that is the case or not.

“I can say one thing for sure, however. With Kohaku there is at least the chance that he can get to know other people and make friends with them over time, given enough time and assuming it happens far enough in the future. Because his distrust is more in himself than anything else, even though it manifests in an unusual way; instead of second-guessing himself and deciding that his opinions can't be trusted, he simply controls himself, gathers all the facts, and makes sure that nobody else will suffer consequences from his decisions if he is wrong. However: it does not matter how much time passes, how long he knows them, or how much he _likes_ them; Byakuya will never, ever, no matter _what_ , truly trust a single being that is not a part of his pack. As far as I am aware, unless there happens to be some unique trait to his breed that allows for this to change, there are no circumstances whatsoever that will cause him to be able to honestly trust anybody who is not marked pack or blood pack. You are blood pack and pack by invitation of his alphas, so he can place his trust in you, but normally, if you weren't marked pack he would never have confided a single thing in you.”

That... Was actually quite sad to hear. Byakuya probably would have no less a full life because of it, and it would likely not bother him in the slightest, but it was still saddening to have someone in his pack (because despite technically having his own pack, he was less alpha now than either Kagome or Sesshōmaru, and he was a part of _their_ pack first and foremost) with trust issues so deep that nobody outside of the pack could ever earn true trust with his person. “Will healing him change this?”

Kagome shook her head slowly, “The PTSD is something that is caused by his previous life, the experiences he had, the actions he was forced into, and his unfortunately forced exposure to the vileness that is Naraku – he had it far better than any of the other incarnations did, but as I mentioned just then, Naraku still crept into his mind when he slept and poured horror into it in an attempt to make sure he cooperated and did not rebel like the previous incarnations did. Healing him will make it less severe because it is currently being worsened by the other condition, but he will never be able to trust anyone who is not pack. This is in part because the PTSD is naturally _developed_.

“I think that is what initially drew Kohaku and Byakuya to each other; they both have strong inabilities to trust that are largely opposite in each other – it was a meeting of kindred spirits who instinctively knew that they could help each other, _because_ of their differences. Byakuya trusts Kohaku implicitly, and trusted him even before they were a part of the pack; and that made an enormous impression on Kohaku. Especially because half the reason Byakuya began to trust him at all was because he saw that Kohaku didn't even trust himself and felt so guilty for having been a part of Naraku that he swore to himself to help Kohaku if he could. Byakuya trusted Kohaku for no other reason than because he _could_. It was not earned or driven or guided. He freely gave Kohaku his trust simply because he wanted to.”

Toga could easily understand the sentiment behind that and smiled a bit, before nodding briskly. “Right. So, what is the ailment that is worsening the PTSD?”

The shorter name was easier to remember; and her familiarity with it suggested it was the more common name for the disorder in the future.

His daughter growled impressively, “Fucking Dissociative Identity Disorder; or, as it's more often incorrectly called, Multiple Personality Disorder. There are two problems with this. Number one, it isn't even working how the disorder generally works, because normally, this disorder splits up the facets of a person's personality and mind into different pieces, and each become their own distinct persons; usually who are _completely unaware_ of each other or only moderately aware of each other, as well as who are  drastically different to the original personality and to each other. It is only in very rare cases that these other personalities are wholly aware of each other, much less capable of interacting with each other or acting for each other's benefit, although it _does_ happen sometimes. Quite obviously, both the “older” Byakuya and the “younger” Byakuya are both the  exact same person, _and_ are wholly aware of each other because of this. So – I'm pretty sure this is because Byakuya is a yōkai and yōkai are naturally resistant to ailments in general; because of this, even though his body was damaged in such a way to give him this problem, it is resisting developing as it would in a ningen.

“Problem number two? The fucking thing _hardly_ existed when Byakuya first joined us: it is steadily – and as of a short time ago,  rapidly – worsening. Byakuya has less than two moons left before his mind permanently and irreversibly splits, and there is no telling how the _fuck_ it will happen. He may go completely insane, he may lose his mind entirely, or he could even become comatose; essentially living but permanently asleep. Or, _far_ more likely, he will die, quite probably taking others out with him if anyone not tied to myself and Sesshō happens to be around. Which I. Will. Not. Let. Happen.

Toga growled an agreement to her and she calmed herself again, breathing evenly and focusing on the rest of his query, “Anyway, the yōki control issue is happening because his yōki is actually _different_ now, when he is younger than it is when he is older; any time one side of him switches in, even for just a few moments, his yōki completely changes, which causes whatever he was doing to screw up. It is frankly astounding how much control he has over his abilities, because he is switching in and out more and more frequently as time goes on and yet most of the time he still manages to keep from having more than a few accidents a sennight despite that fact.”

“Where is this instability centred?”

Kagome sighed and ran a hand through her hair, slouching again, “That's the huge, enormous, _terrible_ part of this. These disorders are wholly developed in the **brain** , and nowhere else in the body.”

Well, _**fuck**_.

Shit, no _wonder_ his daughter was so worried about anything she might attempt. And, most unfortunately for the old tree yōkai, he would not be able to help them one bit if that was the case. However... It was a very good thing for all of them that Toga's bloodline carried the ability that allowed for the creation of Tenseiga and Seimei. “Kagome, I am about to tell you something unpleasant and something you do not wish to hear at all, but you must promise me not to react because I swear to you that what I am about to say _does not matter_ except that it changes the reason for our trip. Do you understand?”

She steeled herself and nodded firmly, no longer slouching. “Bokusenō will not be of any help in this situation. Attempting to heal the brain is something that even as old as he is, he has no helpful knowledge of, because it has never been done before, to my knowledge. We will still go, because you and I are going to have _words_ with my friend – nobody in our pack should have suffered so, for so long, and had you not taken a chance and looked him over we almost definitely would have lost him. Bokusenō is messing about with things he doesn't have complete knowledge of and while he means well, he nearly killed one of my pack-sons and I will not stand for that.”

Kagome closed her eyes but otherwise did not react to his comment; he could tell she was infuriated and clinging desperately to a frail hope in Toga himself. Luckily for them both, Toga was fully capable of fulfilling her hope. “If Kodokuso exists because of Sesshōmaru's poison that runs through his body and his blood... Then what do you think could be the reason for my ability and his ability to create Tenseiga and Seimei, respectively?”

Her eyes flashed open and he saw fierce joy in them; Kagome made the connection rapidly and was clearly aware of the fact that if simply a Fang could do what they could do, the original inherited ability, of which there _must_ be one, ought to be  that much more impressive and relevant. He grinned at her joy and clasped one of her hands, “That ability is caused by the fact that this Toga can enter a being's body and rebuild it in such a way that anything that could cause it harm is both permanently removed and barred from ever returning, even in a mutated form that could cause more or different damage.

“Considering that the ailment afflicting our Byakuya is not communicable and also does not _naturally_ react how it has inside of him, this Toga has no doubt whatsoever that his ability will cure your troublesome little brother and his troublesome young son. _Even_ if this Toga has to inform Sesshōmaru of this ability, teach him how to use it, and work with him to reverse the damage; although from what you have told me, I am certain it will not come to that. And yes, even though it is not active, your mate has this inherent ability; otherwise Seimei would not have been able to be forged. Considering Seimei's stronger abilities, his own abilities surpass mine, however I am loathe to teach him this yet; partly out of fondness for being the only being outside of the Kami who is able to do this, and partly because he is far strong enough with the poison he inherited from his mother without adding this to it.”

His daughter snickered at the last, clearly going where his own mind went; Sesshōmaru had the possibility of being utterly insufferable if he had even _more_ power over giving life. He would not misuse the ability, but the knowledge that he had it... Well, the yōkai might be a lot more balanced and affectionate now, with his pack, but he was still arrogant and naturally unapproachable and intimidating; him having this ability at this point in his life would only multiply the effects of those traits. When she hummed and closed her eyes, he tilted his head, and she was smiling gently when she opened them again.

“There; this conversation has been put aside behind a barrier and slid into a hiding place. Once it is over the hiding place will become concealed and indistinguishable from the rest of my mind. Sess will not find this information out from me unless it is absolutely necessary.”

In other words, unless he _needed_ to use this ability. They both knew that Sesshōmaru was intelligent and adept enough to easily figure out how to unlock and use such an ability if he knew it existed. It was a very good thing that Kagome was aware of this, in fact, for that reason alone, if nothing else. Toga nodded his thanks and then wrinkled his nose, “Now, the question is does Byakuya trust me enough to allow me to do this? Trust is by no means necessary, but if he works with me it will be far easier than if some part of him is fighting; because he will not break his promise to Kohaku by not allowing me to do this thing at all, even if he would rather it not be done.”

Byakuya trotted over just a moment later, making it clear that Kagome had asked her mate to send them the moth yōkai. “Please sit, little brother. I... Well...”

Toga was Not. Having. That. Kagome wasn't aware of everything, and even if she had been, Toga would not have her end up taking blame for any part of this situation. _None_ of this was her fault. Seimei acted on her own, Bokusenō made the situation possible, and the dimension they had been in caused the instabilities. Kagome had absolutely no part in Byakuya's suffering and thus should and would not be taking even the slightest bit of blame onto her shoulders.

Toga growled lightly and rumbled to her, “Be quiet, daughter of mine. I will explain. Byakuya, Kagome told me of the ailments you are suffering, their affect on your yōki, and their ramifications. Specifically of the ailment doing the most damage to your mind. You already knew it was possible to die: that is because the damage being done to you is unnatural and should not be occurring; yōkai do _not_ suffer from ailments such as this and your body is fighting against itself in such a way that is most definitely _already_ killing you. Kagome did not know this fact, but she would have kept if from you even if she had in order to reduce further harm to your weakening mental state. What she _did_ keep from you is that the amount of time in which we have to rectify the ailment destroying you is under two moons.”

The moth yōkai was surprisingly composed, although pain flashed briefly through his violet eyes, as he whispered, “I... I knew that, Kagome-ne. I wasn't sure you knew, so I kept it from you, but ever since you looked me over with your reiki, my instincts tell me every day how much worse I am and how much time I have left. But they also told me that I don't have to worry because somebody I trust can fix me, _completely_ fix me, so that I don't eventually have a relapse.”

_Well_ , how about that; he got his question answered without having to ask! And the answer also saved Kagome from feeling what would be terrible pain due to imagining hearing your own mind tell you how much longer you have left to live on a daily basis. It also explained to Toga how even the younger self did not seem very upset or worried about his possible death. He smiled at the boy and nodded firmly, “That would be me. The reason my fang was able to create Tenseiga is because I can go into a person's body – no matter how far deteriorated or destroyed it is – and reverse the damage done to it. In the case of ailments and illnesses, my ability will remove anything that is doing or can do damage to the body I am in; and also puts in place protections that prevent changed forms of whatever is removed from returning to the body and beginning to damage it again.”

Byakuya's eyes widened and he visibly relaxed; it was pleasing to see him feeling more optimistic about things. Toga wasn't finished yet, however. “However – I do not trust your current body; it had one weakness inherent in it that is practically impossible for normal yōkai to ever develop, there may be more that end up forming later on in your life. This ability of mine can be taken further... To _rebuild_ the body I am in. Taking the same shape, form, and energy, but not actually being the same body any more, having completely remade it so that no part of the original exists. That is what I would have permission to do from you – I will use my ability no matter what because I know you will keep your promise to Kohaku, but I will not rebuild you unless you tell me I can, because my mistrust may never come to a head.”

The moth yōkai instantly and firmly shook his head, “I am not at all attached to my body itself, just the appearance and my yōki abilities. I have been given a second chance to live, and it was sabotaged and caused not only myself, but those around me, worry and pain. I do not regret having this chance or being alive, and I am sure 'ne-san does not regret accidentally reviving me because Seimei decided to act upon her wishes, but I am positive that neither of us want me to stay in the same body that has damaged all of us here.”

“Thank you, Byakuya, because those are exactly my feelings on the subject, and unlike Toga, I _would_ have forced your hand on this issue because I _will not_ risk losing you ever again.”

Toga gracefully took the implied warning – Toga might be _an_ alpha, and a partial pack member, but Kagome was even _his_ alpha, unless he challenged his son for position and won, which he had absolutely no intention of _ever_ doing. Around a fortnight over a moon ago, when he first joined the group, she would not have challenged him in such a way. But she had grown in confidence, which he had... well, mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it was wonderful to see her confident and willing to use her power even towards him. On the other hand… Well, it was similar to how he would never _ever_ challenge his son, despite their regular spars, which Toga won significantly less than half of the time; because he could  never handle having Kagome as an alpha bitch alongside himself, despite that it could only ever be in a platonic or familial way.

...Not in the least because Kagome was utterly _terrifying_. He loved his daughter dearly, but she was quite possibly the only thing he would ever fear again in his life, for so many reasons, most of which really had nothing to do with her personally and everything to do with that despicable jewel in her possession and the consequences of her being its container. Worse; he was  absolutely positive that she was not only well aware of this fact (at least the fear of her aspect, possibly not the reasons for said fear) but completely and wholly willing to use it against him at every possible moment, _just because she could_.

It wasn't even just for revenge, or because it was funny, or any single reason. It was a compounding of things that fell under the category of her willing it to be so and thus it would be so.

...Actually, now that he thought about it, things were better off this way; he'd rather not experience her using her ability to inspire deep, all-encompassing fear in him in order to make him pay for the pain he'd caused his eldest and herself. That would be far, _far_ worse. It was much better to have her scaring the daylights out of him whenever the chance arose just for the hell of it. Yes, much, _much_ , much better.

He couldn't wait until Satori finally had another confrontation with Kagome – she had done _far_ more to damage Sesshōmaru than Toga himself had, because _everything_ was effectively her fault, and Kagome had very clearly and obviously come to that realisation recently. Likely due to a _dream_ of some sort. Of course, he knew that once Satori was made aware of her place as not only not being alpha over Kagome, but not even being proper pack, Kagome would likely do her damnedest to _change_ that – she rightly wanted her mate to have his whole family together and happy, and it would take something drastic to change that. Toga was well beyond prepared to play nice, offer the first apology, and not let his son know the reason he had gone to Izayoi how he had.

He strongly suspected that Kagome was already aware of this fact because of said recent realisations, and quite displeased, considering that Toga was firmly in her good graces now: she had believed, from those memories she showed him, that he was the only one to go against their culture and instinct, and still managed to become inordinately fond of him. He suspected that she would be getting her own bit of revenge for Toga, Sesshōmaru, and herself now that she knew that it had actually been Satori at fault. Especially because the reason he hadn't asked for permission to have Izayoi was that Satori herself told him to go find a willing female, because she no longer wished to have anything to do with him _at all_.

Toga didn't know what had caused the rift; their friendship had been progressing nicely and he'd even begun to develop feelings for the mother of his son, despite their differences and the original tense relationship they had. He had some suspicions, but regardless of if any of them were right or not, he would never be anything more than acquaintances with Satori again; they had too much history between them, and he resented her far too much for abandoning their son like she did. Toga had died because of a dangerous opponent combined with his instincts refusing to let him let the murderer of his second son and the mother of his second son live another day. Satori had simply... Left. Forced his wonderful Sesshōmaru to deal with his death, the effects, and his new position as Western Lord completely alone and unsupported. Sesshōmaru had only been _nine_ for Kami's sake!

“'Ne-san, I think you scared 'tō-san into his mind.”

Toga blinked and chuckled wryly as she scoffed and rolled her eyes, “No, he got lost in thought, I ought to know, I do it frequently enough. Which reminds me. I do adore you, Father, but if you _ever_ think to attempt to startle me by sneaking up on me whilst I am not paying attention I will find a way to purify your hands off – actually I don't even think I'd need try very hard to do that, I know very well that I can use my reiki to magnify my miko-ki, thus making it strong enough to permanently damage even someone of your strength. The only reason I am issuing you this warning is because you will be spending a large amount of time around your youngest, soon, and I am well aware of how he affects people – in addition, he used to be fond of doing that to me, and I had sufficiently little control over my powers, plus they were sufficiently sealed, that he simply made me jump.”

Kagome got a thoughtful look on her face, then a _very_ Sesshōmaru grin appeared on her face, promising vengeance and pain if anyone went against her wishes, “You know, I _was_ going to ask you to warn him to be careful around me, just in case, but I think I'd rather request that you give him no warning whatsoever. If he startles me, he damn well deserves to be ningen for a few hours or a day or so, because he's an asshole. If it happens enough maybe he'll even learn not to do it. It doesn't really even matter if it is an accident or not, just to make up for all the times he did it on purpose. Anyhow, when should we do this? I'd rather not visit Bokusenō without knowing that Byakuya is safe from further damage. It would be better to lash out with controlled ire than with worry lacing every thought.”

Clever, clever girl. Yes, he was quite pleased with his sweet, dangerous, and intelligent daughter. The yōkai in question bit his lower lip, “'Tō-san doesn't actually need to sleep anywhere near as often as he does, and I'll essentially be asleep while this is happening, so how about tonight? Also... I know you probably _don't_ , but do either of you have even the slightest suspicions as to how I will change?”

Actually, he did know... and he wasn't sure whether to be pleased or displeased, but supposed that at the very least it was better than the alternative of things staying as they were. Byakuya's reaction would guide his own. “Your mental state will stabilise, but still be split. Not irrevocably; rather, as time passes your two halves will merge into a whole, very similar to how Kohaku's own mind will heal itself. But instead of changing at random, your two sides will change as you control them. This Toga is not certain, but he believes that your mind will be whole again when your younger mental state naturally ages to the point your older mental state is currently at. Considering you are yōkai, it will be several decades. This is, of course, not taking into account what will happen to you if your moth instincts are in the forefront if and when Kohaku ever returns your affections. You know what will happen eventually over time in such a situation.”

Byakuya straightened up at the warning lacing the last bit, but his eyes were very pleased indeed. “Oh, good. I was **so** worried; see, I don't mind being split, what I minded was not being able to control it. Kohaku is split after all, and he is my best friend now, while I am split. We'd have to get to know each other all over again if I changed overnight. Plus, Kohaku's own mind will eventually stop being split any more, but it'll take ages for him, too, despite being ningen. His younger self will still grow up, though definitely not as fast as most ningen, but it'll just be a more innocent and less damaged version of his older self until he's healed enough he doesn't need it any more.

“We'll both always be damaged some, but we can both be a lot better than we are right now. Before you ask, I know because back when he chose to split I asked him how he planned for it to go. He only ever planned it to be temporary, just a really long temporary. He found out how I age when Mamoru told him to ask me, and decided he wanted to match that but I don't know how effective it'll be, though Mamoru made some noise about being able to _make_ it happen if he had to by manipulating their bond or something like that. And thank you for the reminder; I'm pretty sure that's the only way I'm more moth than inu – when it comes to my chosen mate and how we interact. You know I would do absolutely anything for him _already_ and we aren't even together. So that's definitely moth influence, canines aren't quite so, um, obsessive? I think that's a good word, though it is somewhat creepy sounding.”

Well, the fact that Kohaku was slowing his ageing to match Byakuya's was... enlightening. Toga looked over towards his daughter who had an adorable little smirk on her face – apparently she had realised the same thing Toga did... and that their troublesome (he still would be after his body was remade, too – just only on purpose this time) pack member was completely unaware of.

Kohaku might not ever want a romantic relationship with anyone, but he'd already decided that the most important person in his life besides Mamoru was going to be Byakuya. Apparently that decision he made to trust the taijiya had _deeply_ affected the younger-older boy. No matter how things worked out between them, they would almost certainly be together, and incredibly close, for the rest of their lives. That was quite pleasing, really. Toga was absolutely positive, however, that Mamoru was the driving force behind this, even though the initial decision to trust each other had to be completely their own for them to accept each other; if Toga remembered correctly the feline yōkai hadn't even been able to speak to Kohaku then, although undoubtedly he'd given the boy some sign that the moth was trustworthy. Nekomata were far more devious, manipulative, and sly than they were ever given credit for – partly because their smaller forms were adorable and innocent looking, and partly because their machinations were always for the good of their bonded.

Toga shot out to the nekomata that he was onto him, whilst simultaneously thanking him – it wouldn't do to get on Mamoru's bad side, but the feline needed to know that at least one person in camp realised that he had known _this entire time_ about what was causing Byakuya's instability. Not the specifics, clearly, but that it was inherent in the body, and that it was killing the yōkai. Toga knew that the feline wouldn't realise the ramifications of not telling Kagome – unlike Bokusenō, who would most definitely know that the damage would simply return on resurrection unless specific action was taken, the nekomata almost certainly had logically assumed that the damage was irreversible, but once Byakuya died, would be able to be fixed with Seimei. And, not knowing about ningen ailments, he wouldn't know that the personality split that so conveniently matched up well with his bonded's was actually an illness rather than a choice.

Mamoru was fairly old, but not very experienced, and meant incredibly well, which meant that Toga would _not_ be telling Kagome about this. Instead he would explain what mistake had been made, why it was a mistake, and secure a promise from the nekomata that before attempting such manipulations again, he would ask Toga about them. Toga was _far_ more experienced with this type of thing than Mamoru currently was, and would gladly offer the feline advice and tips, as well as alternate choices that he might not see.

Despite being borderline similar to what they were dealing with with Bokusenō – old, powerful, manipulating a situation to their advantage – the details were drastically different, so Toga felt no guilt whatsoever at keeping this little secret from his daughter. Mamoru had not known from the moment that Byakuya came into being that he was unstable and would likely die, hadn't purposely withheld information so that he would have to be sought out (Bokusenō _could_ have told them when they introduced Kohaku to him, but he _didn't_ , which was utterly deplorable), and had only been doing what he thought best for his bonded. Altogether, Toga actually very much approved, especially because, as he mused earlier, it was incredibly likely the nekomata was at fault for Kohaku ever deciding that the once-incarnation was trustworthy. It was a good first attempt.

“Well, make sure you sleep on the outside of the pile tonight like normal instead of letting the children convince you to sleep closer like they've been trying all day – I'll come sit next to you so I can rebuild your body while you sleep. Kagome?”

She smiled at him and nodded, “I'll make sure you are undisturbed. Before bed I'll wrap you in a reiki barrier so that you can't be noticed, heard, or felt by anyone but me; this way Byakuya doesn't react to being touched by you so early on into your relationship. I'll put you, Byakuya, under a sound-proof barrier, just in case. I'll also put something in it so that it makes your aura seem stable and normal even though your yōki is going to be changing and shifting, and put a little reiki onto everyone when I kiss them goodnight that makes them sleep deeper, without any dreams to wake them up, and make them more likely to ignore you. I have to start preparing for it _now_ though, and I expect you two to get us dinner tonight and make sure to make extra for yourselves so that you aren't running out of energy in the middle of the night.”

The message was clear: Kagome would do the difficult work of making sure the pack stayed safe, unaware, unworried, and healthy, as well as protecting them from interference in the process; _Toga_ and _Byakuya_ would hunt for and make dinner tonight. Toga watched her abruptly leave and dispelled the barrier, commenting to his pack-mate, “Go get your other half, and we'll go hunting.”

His troublesome son's smile was vivid as he went to fetch Kohaku and Mamoru, making Toga grin slightly. In truth, Toga _did_ have some choice in how to shape the body and mind – he couldn't fix the split, but he could change how long it took to heal, for instance, or change the ages used within the split; similarly, he could change how the body looked...

But he didn't think that was necessary. Byakuya was happy how he was, change would come slowly both to him and to his most important person, and the age differences between them (considering that Byakuya was his younger self far more often than his older self, and that even Kohaku's younger self was in many ways more mature and level-headed than Byakuya's—older—younger self was) was fine as it was, honestly. Age wasn't that big of a deal if the mental states fit well together, and those two certainly did – and likely would into the future, surrounded as they were by pack. Plus, despite one of them having feelings for the other, things would simply be platonic between them for at _least_ a decade yet.

He wouldn't change anything except the basic flawed body.

Especially because it wouldn't do to give away _all_ of his secrets, now, would it?

However, he still had a problem to take care of before he did _anything_ else. Because his darker son was still beyond worried, could tell something was going _wrong_ with his best friend and other third, and Mamoru was literally begging Toga for an assurance for the boy. It wasn't at all that Kohaku didn't trust the other boy and his promise or that he didn't have faith in his alphas, Mamoru assured him when he prodded. He trusted them implicitly and knew that Byakuya would eventually be okay and not in pain any more.

He was just worried that his best friend would _change_ before then – or worse, get lost in himself. Kohaku knew how much things like that _hurt_ , and he did not want his absolute best friend (apparently Mamoru was Kohaku's soul-brother, it was only _Byakuya_ who was Kohaku's best friend – more encouraging news for the troublesome son's future. They both deserved the happiness of a romantic relationship) to go through that. So when Toga sent Byakuya off to go find out what their male alpha would prefer to have for dinner, he crouched to the younger boy's level (no matter how adult, _every_ male in this pack – barring Roku because that existence was something to be treated with deference, full stop – would be boys to him for a long time, simply due to his age, although he was careful not to treat them like children; because they definitely weren't) and placed a hand on his head.

Kohaku looked up him with slight confusion, but paid attention to him – good. He'd earned the taijiya's trust; likely because, just as it was with Sesshōmaru, the male couldn't ever hope to lay a scratch on him, mentally or physically. He rumbled a low, comforting note and the boy relaxed some, a bit of the tension leaving his body, and Toga nodded with pleasure. Good, proper reaction. When he spoke, the boy was very intently listening – likely Mamoru was telling him to be sure to pay attention. “Listen, Kohaku. I now know exactly what is wrong with Byakuya, how to fix it – permanently, and so that nothing can _ever_ come back and hurt him again like this – and will be doing so  tonight. Have no fear, brave one, your best friend will not just survive, he will _be fine_. “

Because there was a vast world of difference between the two, and even the two children in this pack knew _that_. Kohaku's  whole body lost every last bit of tension at those words, and he actually reached out and hugged his pack-father for a quick moment, before pulling away, tears in his eyes, “Thank you _so much_.  Thank you. It's selfish but I _need_ Byakuya. And I _don't want him hurt,_ _ever_. And this is _hurting_ him and I **can't** **help**.”

Toga rumbled again, “I know – and believe me, Byakuya needs you every bit as much as you need him, and never forget that. You tied yourselves to each other forever, and you both _chose_ this friendship and bond. Trust in it. But he will be fine and healthy again tomorrow or the day after – I am sure that I can do this on my own, but if I need help, Sesshōmaru can learn what to do and we will delay going to see Bokusenō until Byakuya is healed. Kagome was adamant about that. Promise me you will not fight her reiki tonight. I need to be able to concentrate on what I am doing and that means no worried onlookers.”

He nodded firmly, then looked over to where Byakuya was heading towards them, “I promise. I'll sleep. Thank you very much, Father.”

How on earth had Toga been so lucky as to inherit a _horde_ of extra sons in the years he'd been dead? Granted, physically it might only be three, but both Byakuya and Kohaku had two distinct flavours to their personalities, and although they were still the same person deep down, they were sufficiently different for Toga to consider himself as having _five_ more sons now.

Toga would have to thank Kagome and Sesshōmaru again, for certain.

Now, however, it was time to hunt.


	21. Chapter 21

Toga slid into place silently and rested his hand on the back of Byakuya's neck, threading his fingers carefully and slowly into his pack-son's long black hair, mindful of its sensitivity, before _twisting_ his mind out of his own head and _pushing_ it into Byakuya's, through the connection his hand was making. Luckily there was already a deep bond of trust and a feeling of excited need here – that would make it all the easier. Byakuya was truly asleep, and he sent some yōki towards the male so that he would _stay_ asleep. That was _necessary_ so as not to damage him further during the unmaking of _this_ body and transfer into the _new_ body. Not everybody was Kohaku and Rin, on whom the loss of self that came with unmaking had no tangible negative effect. He could not rely on Byakuya's strength and expect it to keep him sane when he was already _not_ fully sane.

He also gauged the two kinds of yōki that the boy held, and decided to give him the “older” yōki – firstly, because it matched the age of the _body_ better; secondly, because it was more likely what he'd originally had; thirdly, because it was more _stable_ and steady. The whole pack needed that, despite Byakuya's skill level. Even slight fluctuations would be an encumbrance, and although Byakuya was beyond being a master at controlling his yōki, he still shouldn't _need_ to do so in such a way. Plus, it would be a hindrance to the naturally gifted yōkai, and Toga would have _none_ of his pack performing at less than their best. Especially not a member who was so damn talented. He'd seen what the boy could do with severely damaged and constantly fluctuating yōki, and it was astounding – he _desperately_ wanted to see what miracles he could manage with _whole, steady, willing,_ _ **working**_ yōki.

Maybe in thanks he could finagle a performance from the moth yōkai; something somewhere secluded and alone where the boy wouldn't be worried about affecting others and would have a large area to work with. Yes, if the boy offered him a favour in thanks, that would be what he asked for.

Distractions – banish them. He cleared his mind, dove into it, and shifted. Instinct took over from here on out, wonderfully used, advanced, grown; not just from age but from constant and consistent use in such a way. _Toga_ was now a dozen different things, actions, thoughts, all at once. ( _Grow, mould, bend,_ _pour,_ _strengthen, protect,_ _dissolve, renew,_ _brace, form,_ _remove, replace_.)

His mind unravelled into its component parts, and immediately sought out all the inherent weaknesses in the original “new” body that the pack-son had – barring the brain, which had to be done separately due to the delicacy of it.

There were ( _dozens, this is_ _wholly_ _unacceptable,_ _yes we will change this_ ).

Once they had all been found, discovered, and tagged with yōki, he set to making sure that the new body would not only _not have them_ but _defend against them_. His pack-son would be stronger, faster, smarter, ( _stabler, stabler, stabler_ ).

Because ( _yes, stability is the most important thing,_ _all of us agree on this, stability is the forefront of the reasons for change_. _We will make sure that he is stable in_ _ **every**_ _place_ ).

Now it was onto the trickiest part – it was a good thing that instinct recognised where ( _our_ _pack-daughter's reiki marked_ _this place right_ _here, this is what needs fixing_ _most of all,_ _most definitely_ ).

It could have been done anyway but this made it _faster_. By far. So yōki and instinct wove in and out, guiding, shaping, _forming_ the place where the worst problem was, _seeking_ its  ownbrain, _measuring_ the differences ( _only where the problem is, because moth and inu are not the same,_ _and we do not want to cause more problems_ ) although ( _he will always be more inu now,_ _because the mind he has wills it to be so_ ) and ( _that is okay, the body we make will be able to withstand it_ _if his own mind wills it, it is only if we make the change on our own that it will become an issue eventually_ ).

**C** **reating** the new brain, and then the body, that would hold the life of his troublesome son.

( _Yes, our troublesome son is oh so delightfully troublesome and we will have him continue to be so because he is loved that way by all of the pack, even that ridiculous imp that belongs to our eldest_.)

Because pack was _everything_ and ( _pack caused this_ ) and even though the pack member that caused this was _different_ – ( _Bokusenō is still pack and harmed our other pack_ ). Yes, he would learn, but ( _not until Byakuya is finished, not until our son is fixed_).

Image became fact, idea became form, tentative became _solid_ , and ( _joy, completion, triumph, we have completed him_ )!

They became _him_ (was that a whisper of something _other_? No, he must have imagined it, that wasn't possible without him noticing before now) and Toga was back, not just to himself but _in_ himself as well, and he looked over his pack-son with a strong sense of approval and gratification. Despite his appearance being technically the same, there was a _visible, tangible _difference – Byakuya had been compensating for and working around _so many_ inherent weaknesses and possible problems that his body had always seemed a little bit _strained_ even when it was relaxed...

That feeling was completely _gone_ , now. Byakuya looked, felt, _was_ strong and whole now. He had a wonderfully yōkai body that would work perfectly and do exactly as asked with no hesitation or struggle. Toga was _excited_ to see how his pack-sons (and his _actual_ son, who would notice immediately because he was so fond of the illusionist) would react upon realising how much **better** Byakuya was now. As he looked at the sky, he saw that most of the night had passed, so he smiled and departed to his usual tree – soon his daughter would awaken, shortly followed by the rest of the pack; she'd made her mate sleep tonight with the promise that if he did, in the morning he would get an absolutely brilliant surprise. Because even if Sesshōmaru had to help with Byakuya, having this new ability and being able to use it to save one of his family members would be absolutely wonderful for him.

Kami, but his daughter was clever.

\- - -

Roku watched Toga depart with a look of complete awe and admiration – he shouldn't have been able to actually experience what he just did, but he couldn't _resist_ gaining a new knowledge of how yōkai and instinct worked, so he'd _tagged_ the older daiyōkai with his hōriki and reiki (it wasn't _his_ fault that Toga let his guard down around Roku, believing himself to know all of the monk's secrets, that was all on the older daiyōkai himself... Well, okay, be honest; maybe it was a _little_ bit Roku's fault, since he preferred being underestimated, but  still) – and had unexpectedly been _dragged_ in when the yōkai began doing his job. Roku was incredibly impressed. Not just with the yōkai himself, or his talent, but the sheer _belief and faith_ that was involved in trusting ones instincts so strongly that one was able to **become** those instincts.

Not to mention the finesse and sheer, striking intelligence of those instincts – Roku knew _damn well_ that most yōkai instincts were _nowhere near_ that sophisticated – that had to be due to age and experience, there was no other explanation. Using them and having them for so long had shaped his instincts into fine, complex, delicate tools, rather than the blunt instruments most yōkai had. Roku understood a bit more now, why Sesshōmaru had been able to accept him into the pack despite knowing that Roku was in love with his mate, because he used his instincts as a fine weapon already; having this ability must make it more possible to do such a thing even if one wasn't aware of this ability.

The experience he had just undergone was absolutely incredible. And both being _inside_ and feeling the body being made, while the other half of him was _outside_ and  watching it be made… (Which was all he'd intended on being able to see, when he pulled his trick.)

Roku had a much deeper respect for the Kami than he'd had before, and he'd already had an incredibly deep respect for the Creators Of All. That they could _gift_ this ability to a being... and knowing that the original version is _always_ stronger and more powerful and impressive than the copy... (Although, inherited traits became stronger through strong bloodlines – that still didn't change the fact that the original ability must be  staggering. Possibly creating and forming a whole person from nothing but _air_. Toga had used his yōki to create Byakuya's new body. The Kami didn't have yōki, simply energy itself.)

It was a pleasure to know that their newest pack-mate was now fixed, whole, and better than ever – and that his beloved sister's worries and fears would finally be eased. For a sennight now she had been utterly frantic – and her mate hadn't been able to calm her, mostly because, as Roku and the entire rest of the pack had witnessed, she had _ordered_ her alpha, whom she almost _always_ submitted to, that he was  not to interfere or ask questions.

He had seen the utterly desperate look on her face, and so knew why her mate had simply held her close and growled comfortingly to her, allowing her to have her way in this. Everyone else, barring Shippō, had been confused, because Sesshōmaru was _not_ one to allow his pack-mates to be overcome with negative emotion – it was immediately taken care of and wiped out as soon as it was noticed, which meant nearly always almost instantly upon it coming into existence. But Kagome was special – when she was desperate to save somebody, she pulled out miracles from thin air: sometimes not even thin air, sometimes they came out of literally nothing. Sesshōmaru was well aware of this, and teased her about it when times were light and easy.

There hadn't been teasing of that nature for quite some time, because even the little ones had been able to see that not only was something _very wrong_ with Byakuya, but that whatever was wrong was getting _so much worse, so very fast_. Toga's instincts during this rebirth of his younger brother had murmured frequently in the background of the main grouping a confirmation that the yōkai had had less than two moons to live – and that Byakuya had been _incredibly_ aware of that fact. As well, the main instincts had leaked that Bokusenō, whom Roku had been very impressed with, in spite of his little trap (because he was a _tree_ , his morality couldn't possibly be the same as theirs, and he probably didn't understand slavery very well), was aware of the problem and _hadn't let them know_.

There were also other various impressions of the old yōkai being misguided and his thought processes not working the same as mortals did (of course, that was blatantly obvious, as well as Roku's earlier impressions of skewed morality due to the nature of his yōkai breed), so Roku was willing to forgive the old tree; but _only_ because Toga had been able to permanently fix his mischievous and devoted younger brother without him having to die naturally, instead giving him a brand-new, perfect body built straight from scratch. Even if it _would_ have been able to fix his little brother, no forgiveness could _ever_ be earned had Byakuya died because of his ailment. Not in the least because Kohaku _needed_ Byakuya desperately and severely, due to Mamoru's cleverness in immediately recognising that their problems would be wonderful counterpoints to one another and balance each other out when together.

Kohaku had been Roku's little brother far before they met Byakuya again, back when _Roku_ was _Mi_ roku, and while Roku did _not_ let himself play favourites, he also wouldn't lie to himself; half the reason he was so fond of the moth yōkai was because he was so utterly in love with and devoted to Kohaku. Kohaku wasn't in love with him, possibly might never be as far as most of the pack was concerned, but still _loved_ him; they were absolute best friends and other halves of each other – or in Kohaku's position, Byakuya was his other _third_ because of Mamoru's presence, although Roku had a sneaking suspicion that by the time they changed their relationship (which would very likely be happening despite his thought that Kohaku might never fall in love – Roku was not blind to how Kohaku had recently begun reacting when Byakuya showed him his love; their relationship would highly likely change, just not for another decade or two if it did) it would be thirds all the way around.

Kohaku and Byakuya desperately needed each other, and while the nature of it was slightly unhealthy at the moment, the older adults in the pack were all well aware that as they grew up (rather amusing considering Byakuya's apparent physical age) the need would settle into something less insistent and more subtle. Healthier and stabler. Although Byakuya had confessed to Roku that his moth instincts were already changing his interactions, and the adults in the pack were aware that if (when, but probably only Roku himself and Kagome were aware of that fact right now) Kohaku and Byakuya entered into a romantic relationship it would _definitely_ not be normal or conventional.

Hell, Byakuya's new body would help that need they had to be with each other _intensely_ , it had been very clear that Kohaku was having a harder and harder time being away from his best friend the worse he got. It had only been Toga's confirmation earlier that had ever had an immediately severe effect on Kohaku; because not even his alphas were able to promise him that Byakuya would not be harmed worse before he got better – they would never lie to him.

Not for the first time, and certainly not the last time either, Roku was inordinately glad that Toga had earned his little sister's trust and acceptance by finally accepting his son _as he was_.

Roku felt a stare on him and looked to where Toga was suddenly looking at him from, his eyes confused, intrigued, and rather flummoxed; because Roku was well aware he should not be able to even be looking in the direction he was considering Kagome's little reiki tricks. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, whispering quietly so as not to wake anyone up, but clearly enough the daiyōkai would be able to hear, “We all have our secrets, honoured father – not even _you_ know everything, and by the by, thank you kindly for such an _amazing_ show. This Roku is highly impressed with your ability, your competence, and your faith."

Toga was clearly about to burst into laughter, but he held it back resolutely, and grinned at Roku, definitely pleased and amused with the fact that he'd been able to get around his little sister's abilities. Probably because it made her seem a little less unearthly when some plan of hers didn't go exactly right, as they were wont to do. The universe seemed intent on ordering itself however his little sister wished (even if the way in which it happened was... not very pleasant. The Shikon's influence was becoming more apparent as time went on – they _needed_ Byakuya, especially Sesshōmaru and Kohaku, and it was clear that this experience was their payment for receiving him), and whilst he was very pleased with that, it was slightly frightening and disturbing – things going wrong were actually somewhat of a _relief_ to Roku; it meant that despite her Kami-given immortality his sister was still not divine and infallible.

His brother's father clearly felt the same way, and Roku could not find it in himself to be the slightest bit upset with that. It was rather hilarious how much Kagome terrified her father-in-law, after all. Roku was excited to see what she did to her mother-in-law the next time they met up. She was quite displeased with the woman's deception, after all, as she had confessed to him a fortnight ago. This was the first time that any of her _dreams_ had made her upset with a non-antagonistic participant in them; even though the _dream_ had been the memory of a servant at the shiro, it had heavily featured Satori – and the fact that upon realising she was developing feelings for her mate, she promptly shoved him away, ordered him to go find someone else, and refused to speak to him again.

Even though she had _known_ that he was developing the same feelings for her. Neither of them were aware of what was behind such a decision if she knew that her feelings would be returned, but it was horrible of her to allow Sesshōmaru to believe Toga to be at fault in such a _wrong_ manner, instead of admitting that he had her permission – her _orders_ – to be with Izayoi. Kagome said that her mate knew there was more to the situation, just not what, and she was _so torn_ about whether she should tell him or not. Roku advised her to wait and see if Satori confessed after a few visits, and if not, then she should tell him.

It was no surprise that Toga had picked someone as opposite to his cold, proud, and powerful mate as he could get.

Toga had sensed that Kagome knew now – it actually wasn't much of a surprise, as her actions towards him had considerably softened in apology for some of her anger: not all of it, he definitely had needed the waking up she gave him. But some of it was unfounded, and so she was apologising for it in the best way she could – by loving him like a daughter did. Even despite the tension simmering due to their brother's illness, the whole camp had been freer and easier because of the change in the relationship with their father and their sister (or, in Shippō and Rin's case, their mama and their grandfather).

Ah, she was stirring now. When she blinked up at him, he smiled, and pointed over to Byakuya's direction. She sent him an unimpressed _Look_ that said she was aware of his interference and not amused, but also that she forgave him of it because even _Kagome_ got “weirded” out with how often everything went exactly to plan for her. Still, she looked, and Sesshōmaru woke up at her _incredibly_ pleased gasp.

Kagome grabbed him and made him look at Byakuya, dispelling the barrier around the boy and her father, and his golden eyes widened and darkened with completely visible, wholly unrestrained delight and happiness – he'd been told he would get a surprise but Roku thought this counted as rather more than _just_ a surprise to the daiyōkai. He was _incredibly_ fond of Byakuya; especially because Roku and Sesshōmaru were brothers much closer to the same age, but Byakuya and Kohaku were definitely far younger than them despite their experience and maturity; as well, Byakuya was innately similar to Sesshōmaru, with his mask that was so carefully controlled.

It was _wonderful_ to see Sesshōmaru stare in awe at his mate, grab her close, bury his face into her shoulder, and choke out, “ _How_?”

She was probably crying right now, as she was clinging to him just as tightly, sennights worth of fear and worry and frustration completely melted and gone from her body. “Father. I can't say how exactly, but it is inborn, and my instincts told me to confide in him when he demanded an explanation. I'm _so glad_ I listened to them because Bokusenō wouldn't have been able to help. We're still going, because I need to talk to him, and we're taking Byakuya with us so he can get used to his new body and his stable yōki in relative peace, but he is not going _anywhere_ near Bokusenō, and I expect you to keep him out of trouble.”

Sesshōmaru might not have been told the situation entire, but he was especially smart and clever and able to figure things out based on even just a minute amount of information. His head lifted and he looked at Roku with a tentative, _painful_ anger in his eyes – silently asking if Bokusenō _knew_ and if his mate was going to be _punishing_ the old tree with his father. Roku confirmed his deduction with a solemn nod, and he buried his face again, no doubt trying to calm down his anger and sense of betrayal, because right now should be a _joyful_ time.

Luckily, Kohaku woke up just then, and as he turned over hopefully, his dark brown eyes widened in a happiness deeper than Roku – or Kagome and Sesshōmaru, who were eagerly watching their darker brother – had ever seen on his face. Toga was _immediately_ next to his “darker son,” and he buried his face in the older daiyōkai's kimono, thanking him repeatedly even as Toga growled a comforting acceptance. Kagome and Sesshōmaru, still highly entwined, were looking on with a very serious happiness, before Kagome interrupted the two, “Toga, it would very much please this Kagome if you would join our pack at nights when you are available to.”

Their father was _finally_ officially and wholly pack. No doubt later today Sesshōmaru would be marking him to prove the complete acceptance he had just been granted.

Byakuya had woken up now, and was staring at his hands in awe, closing and opening them even as he whispered, “I feel so much _better_! Otō-san, thank you so much! This Byakuya owes you deeply and will _not_ accept refusal of a gift. This Byakuya knows that his honoured father is intrigued by his abilities; would a demonstration of how complete and all-encompassing they can be, joined with a few summons so that this Byakuya can aid his father when it is necessary, be sufficient thanks for his new health?”

Neither Kagome nor Sesshōmaru were interfering in this, despite the fact that he knew they didn't really like the idea of Byakuya leaving their presence without Kohaku for long periods of time, and this would be _hours_ , possibly an entire day. That was wise of them; they knew that there _was_ a debt incurred and it needed repayment. Toga himself was also incredibly wise, however, and he grinned, “Only if your other half comes along on those summons; I won't have you going it alone, even if it's just to help me with my recalcitrant son. The demonstration, however, should be alone, I want to see you at full power without you having to cover for someone else.”

Toga seemed unaware that once Byakuya built his illusion and directed a few items, he didn't have to pay attention to it; his mind still controlled it but his mind also separated the part of him controlling the illusion from the rest of his consciousness – the old daiyōkai would be incredibly impressed when Byakuya revealed how his origami summons worked and that he'd been creating them at _the same time_ as Toga was embroiled in whatever illusion the young moth yōkai would show him. Meanwhile, his alphas were relieved with the condition Toga had set, and as Byakuya agreed to Toga's request, Kohaku was back over at his side, tugging on the sleeve of his plum coloured sleeping yukata, whispering furiously, “Flame, _do_ something, something you couldn't before but you tried to do anyway because you should have been able to do it! Show me how much better you are, please!”

Byakuya hugged the taijiya before asking, “Okay, Creek, physical or yōki?”

Kohaku rolled his eyes and huffed, apparently not giving a damn that _everyone_ , even Rin and Shippō, were now staring at the pair. Those nicknames must be incredibly private, since nobody (well, _Kagome_ was wholly unsurprised, so _almost_ nobody) had ever heard them before; they were shockingly fitting, however. It really suited the pair. It was more as if the names described their opposites, what they were drawn to, rather than themselves, but it really strangely suited them both strongly. “Puh- _lease_ , you know better than that, Flame. Your illusions aren't to be trusted at all because you have too good of control over your yōki, even when it's acting up, or you'd have been having a _dozen_ accidents a day or  more for well over a fortnight now.”

That...

That was disturbing and enlightening. Not much could make Roku feel that way, any more.

Byakuya chuckled and stood up with a stretch, grinning as he said, “Remember how many times I tried to do this, Creek? Watch!”

Suddenly he _twisted_ , jumping into the air, backflipping, and, upon landing, promptly went backwards onto his hands in a show of flexibility, before lifting his legs into the air and pushing up with his hands, landing in a catlike crouch. The look on Kohaku's face – a mixture of hope and fear that was _painful_ to see – proved that he had seen an attempted demonstration like this before, only it had failed; multiple times. It was probably something that the moth yōkai had been able to do in his previous life, but lost the ability for with all of the weaknesses inherent in his body. Then he straightened up with a _very_ endearing smile. “Do you believe that I am all better now, Kohaku?”

The pack's dark teen nodded fiercely, “Thank you so much, Father, Kagome-ne, Sesshōmaru-ni. Thank you too, Byakuya, for showing me that your body is as better as it appears to be. I really look forward to scouting with you when you return from your trip.”

Of course he'd thank Sesshōmaru – Kohaku was _well_ aware that this miracle only happened as it did because of Sesshōmaru allowing Kagome her bout of desperation. Toga very well might have already gone to see Inuyasha, and Bokusenō was likely completely unaware of their pack-father's special ability. He wouldn't have been able to help, Byakuya would have died, and then been resurrected, only to fall to the _exact same problem again_. And because they wouldn't have known about Toga's ability, they wouldn't have been able to cure him.

The Kami really loved Kagome and wanted her to have a strong family.

Roku tried not to wonder too hard at _why_ that was the case; maybe it was a reward for her duty and her pain, or maybe they were giving her a source of comfort for if she realised exactly how the Shikon was affecting her, or maybe they were preparing her for something big; in any case, Kagome would have her mate, little brothers, and big brother with her wherever she went from now on until forever. Well, for the most part, anyhow. Undoubtedly there would be short periods of separation, but impermanent ones.

He smiled as he looked on at his family, his beloved sister and her mate so happy, their younger brother safe and healed, physically. The children dashing around Byakuya and Toga asking curious questions that were cleverly misdirected by both parties. Sesshōmaru really was the best thing that could ever have happened to his precious Kagome.

\- - -

“I have an idea, Toga, and I have the tools to implement it, for the most part, but I need your participation in this. We are going to force Bokusenō to face the _consequences_ of his actions towards Byakuya and the pain he caused by not saying anything, even when it was almost too late.”

Toga immediately knew what Kagome was asking and planning, and approved fiercely; it would fix, at least for a short while, the problem Bokusenō had of being unable to think like a normal creature of this planet instead of something half part of the planet. For all he was impossibly wise and millennia old, his old friend was not infallible, and needed to be shown that. Toga knelt down and Kagome placed her hands on his head. The touch of her reiki was indescribably smooth as it slid between his memories, picking and choosing the ones that were emotionally strongest, and ones that had the most visual impact. She was clearly familiar with how the mind in general worked, and how to gather things from it without leaving an impact other than a soft, sweet, healing feeling that was incredibly calming and soothing. Not surprising, considering how long she'd been working with Kohaku before she mated Sesshōmaru.

When she pulled away, she smiled at him, “Thank you very much, Father. I even got memories from Jaken and Ah-Un, but I think the ones that will affect Bokusenō the most are Sesshōmaru's. Not necessarily because of the strength and severity of his worry and pain, although that is indeed intense, but because Sess had _suspected_ , and felt so incredibly betrayed by the mere _idea_ that his friend would do that to any living being that he furiously denied the thought.”

His eyes widened and he _flinched_ , knowing exactly how that kind of emotion felt, and how it affected the person involved. His youngest son by blood (despite his immaturity, both Byakuya and Kohaku were physically younger) had made Kagome feel that way more than once. “Bokusenō will learn. He is no more stubborn than I, and far less experienced with pain.”

Kagome looked at him seriously, “Toga, is Bokusenō a part of your residual pack?”

He nodded, wondering where she was going with this. Suddenly those cerulean blue eyes firmed and hardened and he knew that his old friend _would not like_ what Kagome was about to decide, but also that he _needed_ it to happen so he would wake up to the fact that his actions could harm instead of help if he was not careful. “Toga, once I feed Bokusenō those memories we are going to _punish_ him with a severity that matches his transgression of causing the death of your son and my little brother. Nobody else may have realised it, excepting Roku and Byakuya himself, and I will not inform them of it, especially not my wonderful Sess, he feels betrayed and upset enough as it is. But I fully realised before falling asleep last night that in order for Byakuya's yōki and mind to be transferred over to his new body, he had to die; he was simply already asleep whilst it happened so there was no mental effect.”

His daughter's knowledge was not surprising; there were only a few ways “rebuilt” and “remade” could be translated, and if you actually thought about it, the ability was blatantly obvious: it killed the original body and, going with the very basic template, stripped of imperfections and ailments, used solidified yōki (which was a rare thing indeed, or more yōkai would be able to do what he could) to give the being it was bestowed upon a new body, when he wielded it in this manner. It was more surprising that Byakuya had not been so overwhelmed with his new health that he had asked about Seimei working on him. That could be the only reason he would so blatantly inform Kagome that he _had_ indeed died during his experience, regardless of if he knew that she was aware of it or not. He would not bring up some such thing – Byakuya's manners were generally far too polite at the moment to allow for such an action, despite his mental age and occasional impulsiveness.

It was _also_ more surprising that she was not reacting in a much more vicious manner to punish the old tree, and as if sensing his thoughts (she probably was, he knew she had mental powers to sense emotions, though she rarely used them in any obvious manner) she gave him a quietly cruel grin. “Sometimes kindness hurts worse than cruelty does, Father. That is a lesson that many yōkai  never learn, but ningen learn early on. Being gentle or helpful towards someone who has incredibly severely harmed you often causes them _far_ more pain than if you punished them severely, because they realise that in spite of the pain they caused you, they matter little enough to you – or you care enough about them, depending – that you decided to help them instead of hurting them.

“In this case, I do not give any fucks about Bokusenō except that he might harm others – like Inuyasha, he burned my ability to care away with his cruel actions, inadvertent though they may have been. The reason I am punishing him in such a way is, in fact, a kindness towards him – it is far easier to come to terms with guilt and regret when alone than it is when one has an audience. Especially when it may take days – sennights, even – to come to terms with the magnitude of such a feeling when the someone experiencing it has never felt such in a manner directly regarding themselves before.”

Ah... Kagome was correct in that – yōkai did not really do such things. But he could immediately see the effectiveness that such a tactic would have – not just on a person who had received little enough kindness and aid in their lives, but even more so on a naturally kind and giving person such as Bokusenō was at heart, when he wasn't allowing his age and lack of normal morality to colour his actions. Realising that he hurt someone as kind and giving as _Kagome_ enough that she could care less about him personally would strike Bokusenō deep – especially as Toga knew he was hoping to foster a friendship with the miko. He felt that the old yōkai would eventually be able to earn her attention back again; if he began _taking part_ in the world again, helping people, and especially, sending people to _her_ for _her_ to help, it was inevitable that that friendship he wanted would be able to bloom. Not for a long time, decades, but eventually.

Hopefully her veritable flood of memories would cause him to wake up from the deep half-sleep he had slid into since Toga's death. He had been getting bad enough as it was with Toga's distance from him due to the situation between Satori, himself, and Izayoi. Most people would not realise this, but Bokusenō needed contact with other beings if he was to keep his morality on the proper scale to be able to help them without harming them.

Too many thought of him as so wise that he was infallible, so Kagome's tangible ire would be very good for the old yōkai. Toga himself, acting for Bokusenō in his _separate_ pack, rather than as a part of his son and daughter's pack (which he was now as of Kagome asking him to sleep with them, wholly and properly – it had only taken a fortnight over a moon, a fact which pleased Toga quite well, proving his likeability), would begin giving the old tree reports on his youngest son's growth and learning every sennight or so, once the old yōkai had adjusted to his realisations. “This Toga will obey his daughter; but once Bokusenō has woken up to the consequences he will be spending more time with his old friend, in order to remind the magnolia that other beings have a different sort of moral code and existence than he does.”

She nodded shortly, apparently having expected this, and spoke, “We will leave after you all have breakfast – I've already fetched breakfast for Sess and I – we need to be alone for a while so he can come to grips with his emotions before being confronted with his friend, despite that I will _not_ be allowing his presence in there. He'll be staying out with Byakuya, and he's willing to obey me in this.”

Toga grinned and shook his head, “You are far too wise, my daughter, and far too clever by half as well. You rarely use your power as aite to fight with him, so that the moments you do, you are guaranteed to win the argument.”

Kagome smirked and winked at him, flouncing off towards wherever her mate was. “See you in a while, Father, we might be a bit late, but with Byakuya at full health we will be able to travel _much_ faster now. We'll still be gone the third day, though that will be a day for Sess and I to be alone and Byakuya to do his first half of his repayment.”

When his daughter had _plans_ , nobody interfered. Not even the Kami. Kagome was far too frightening when things went wrong – and sometimes even when things went right, only the latter due to the sheer power involved, rather than the strength of her irritation or anger, since there was none of that when things went her way. So, people might slip and slide through, like her older brother Roku frequently did (Toga _had_ to find out how the monk had done that – he'd not even noticed that he had a tag-along until he exited Byakuya, and then he'd believed himself to be imagining things until he noticed that Roku was _awake_ and _watching_. Kagome was _not_ the only pack-mate with disturbing levels of ability. The sheer competence of everyone in her pack was awe-inspiring. It definitely made life entertaining and delightful.) but they never interfered with the actual plans so that they didn't work.

Toga frequently wondered exactly why that was, wondered if the Shikon that was almost complete (they had collected six shards this past moon, meaning there were only six left, and Kagome could sense every last one of them; it would be completed _very_ soon) had anything to do with it, and worried for his daughter and her pack – but it didn't make him any less terrified of her because of the fact that she not only had the power to change the world, but the ambition and drive to do so. She _cared_ about people and was determined to make things _better_ , come hell or high water. And damned if Toga didn't believe that she'd manage it, too. If Kagome _willed_ it, it was bound to happen eventually, even if she wouldn't approve of the way in which it happened.

And _not_ just because the Kami liked her – despite not believing that it gave her any actual power, the Shikon was changing her body and soul to be a more fitting chamber of residence; and that meant giving her the power to _change_ things, as that was the nature of the jewel. Wishes were just drastic changes to the order of the world, after all. With anyone else, Toga would say that the Kami were being foolish, over-hopeful, and about to destroy the world because they placed too much power in one single person, because even contained in such a way, the Shikon was vile and twisted and would make things happen in ways that caused pain to others if not constrained by someone who was immeasurably kind, so kind they could dampen the jewel's twisted desire to cause pain...

But as Toga had come to learn, Kagome was _anything_ but one single person. Kagome's heart was totally wrapped up in those she cared about to the point that she never did anything without considering how her actions would reflect back onto and affect the people she loved – which was why she was so infuriated with Bokusenō. _Nobody_ normal was that wholly considerate and loving, and her kindness  was _immeasurably_ and even harshly,  brutally kind, that fact was a part of her entire being – unless the person genuinely deserved pain and punishment, she would not bear for others to be hurt, full stop, even if it meant taking measures she would be against in other situations. The Kami had probably picked the only person in the world—universe, even—that it was safe to give this kind of power, to give possession of the vile Shikon to – and then promptly brought her _here_ where she was _needed_.

He would truly not be surprised at all if this was actually a different world than the time she came from – split because she changed it so drastically, or possibly having been totally different from the beginning. Certainly, she was not doing anything by halves, despite her subtlety and light touches on things – everything she did affected the world deeply, even if it was a seemingly tiny action. Kagome made _waves_.He'd talked this over with Roku before, and the monk had confessed that he'd always believed that Kagome was either the reason her era was how it was, open and accepting, or that she came from a different world altogether where yōkai had always just been myths and didn't realise it. More like didn't want to – Kagome was frighteningly intelligent, so if she was unaware of this possibility it was likely due to a purposeful ignorance.

Honestly, Toga would not correct her of it; she deserved some simplicity in her complex life. Neither would Roku, and they both knew that Sesshōmaru (who had thought from the moment that he'd heard about there being no yōkai in her era that she did _not_ come from the future, but another world entire) wouldn't either, although when she finally let herself realise it, they would all help her through the inevitable breakdown. The younger adults in her group (and Rin) really had no true idea of how different things were – especially since, barring an emergency, Kagome only visited her original home four times a year, and ever since some incident they'd had with Byakuya early on, she refused to talk about the place anywhere where he might hear, excepting how things she brought back worked – their purpose and things like that. And that in itself was only a safety measure. If he didn't know how something worked, he might try to replicate it in a manner that made something _explode_ , and none of them wanted _any_ more _explosions_.

Not potentially dangerous ones, anyhow. Kagome had described fireworks to Byakuya and he had sworn to be careful – beyond careful – if she _please_ let him work on trying to replicate it for her, going so far as to turn to “Sesshōmaru-ni, you _know_ I can be careful when I try and I really want to give Kagome-ne a gift because she _deserves_ it.”

Which meant Kagome had, of course, been thoroughly screwed. Nobody missed the triumph in his eyes and even Sesshōmaru knew the boy was manipulating his fondness – but that was one of the reasons Sesshōmaru liked him so much to begin with, so they all knew it would happen again – probably forever. Especially because the fondness was _not_ one-sided, and the boy went out of his way to please his alpha in return for getting his way pretty much constantly.

Most of the strangers who saw them interacting were completely flabbergasted – why would someone as stoic and cold as the Western Lord of Nihon be so _drawn_ to and _fond_ of somebody who was _so blatantly different_ than he was?

What even yōkai missed was that despite his mask, Sesshōmaru was still _completely_ and _thoroughly_ yōkai, all the way down to his core. Heat, violence, passion, blood lust, never-ending hunger, thirst for power (although, luckily for everyone, only power _rightly_ earned or obtained, unlike many yōkai); Sesshōmaru had it all. His instincts were severely controlled, but so were all nobles in the Western Lands nowadays – something his little daughter intended to change. Toga wished her total luck, things needed to be changed and shaken up around there – they certainly hadn't been that way when _he_ was in power.

Byakuya was every bit as yōkai as Sesshōmaru was – and he was _perfect_. He could don the mask at any time he wanted, and whilst his mask was _different_ to Sesshōmaru's, it was far more fitting to a normal overpowered yōkai – unruffled, calm, eternal borderline amusement – _I am so powerful that your actions barely amuse me; be glad they do, at that_. He was just as powerful as his mask suggested, but even when he had been suffering from an ailment that he would normally never have had to deal with, his power was controlled and _used_ ; it never used him. Similarly with his instinctual reactions to things – he _engineered_ , _used_ , and _manipulated_ them to give him an advantage in any situation. That was a trait few breeds of beast yōkai had; moths, some snakes, crows and ravens, kitsune, and of course because of their bloodline talent, inu of his bloodline – and some female inu had that trait as well, but mostly foreign ones, rather than native inu. Akari for example, one of the nobles.

His abilities were strong and instead of only having a single aspect, he found ways to break them up, use parts of them cleverly, and give himself an essentially unlimited fount of power to use; because the nature of his abilities and the ways in which he used them were _geared_ towards the aspect of change. He was thoughtful and resourceful, quick on his feet, and was too clever by half. He might be younger than he appeared, but _all_ yōkai were more mature than ningen their approximate mental ages, despite how they might _act_ at times.

Toga suspected that not even Roku (although after that little _trick_ last night, he was _not_ going to assume such things any more) fully realised how extremely, perfectly, ideally yōkai Byakuya was. Sesshōmaru did, though – and encouraged it. The boy had been very specific when he was talking to Toga about Kohaku, and whilst he'd been subtle, he also hadn't been hiding. He couldn't make his affections towards the other boy so blatant that they got _noticed_ as to their _nature_... But the moth yōkai was, from their display this morning, already integrating borderline-romantic affectionate gestures into their relationship and disguising them under a veneer of platonic pack-affection. Byakuya would _never_ try to force or manipulate Kohaku into having him – the mere idea of ever doing anything like that sickened him deeply; but if he was going to have to possibly deal with never being able to be with the boy how he wanted, he would at least get the affection from him that his instincts needed.

It wouldn't come to that, though. Not with Mamoru encouraging them and shifting things to Byakuya's advantage like the nekomata would do. He wanted his bonded to have a _full_ life and that meant romance included, even if it took decades. Everybody (except Roku, and maybe Kagome... She had a feeling lately of knowing more than anyone else yet did, even Roku, although to a far more limited extent than Roku and because of differing reasons) was underestimating the taijiya boy though – yes, he was damaged, but he was resilient and had his pack to help him; plus he was nearly constantly in the presence of Kagome, whose energy simply naturally reached out to damaged people and helped heal them. It would take less than two decades for the taijiya to be able to notice the moth yōkai's feelings and trust in himself enough that he would allow himself to be with Byakuya in that manner.

In addition to that, Byakuya's actions would be getting him used to the fact that it was okay for them to be affectionate – _at least_ amongst yōkai, which mattered more to the taijiya, considering the nature of their pack, than ningen culture did. If Kohaku was already used to hugging, holding hands (so far mostly when running together, but Toga'd noticed it happening a few other times), leaning against each other, and whatever other various affectionate gestures the yōkai would introduce to their friendship, the change in the nature of their relationship would not be so intimidating or worrying. The moth yōkai was beyond intelligent, and both Sesshōmaru and Toga _highly approved_ of his actions. The others would when they realised, too.

Toga's thoughts had gotten off track; the point _was_ that Sesshōmaru had grown up _around yōkai_ , despite them mostly being servants, guards, and tutors, and no matter how abnormal the ningen in his pack were, they were not yōkai. They would not understand things the same way at the deepest level, react to things the same way, or look at things the same way. Differently to normal ningen, more suitably, but not _ideally_. Byakuya, however...

Honestly, the smartest and best thing that Kagome had done for Sesshōmaru – besides just being _his_ – was give him Byakuya. She'd _known_ that not only did Sesshōmaru need a yōkai, one that was old enough that he couldn't _parent_ them but young enough he could  mentor them, he needed one that was _so thoroughly_ yōkai that it would make up for the diversity of the pack. Diversity was great, but being surrounded by people who obeyed a wholly different set of instincts was, frankly, tiring for yōkai – and Kagome had known, noticed, and fixed that in one fell swoop.

The wind witch and void child would have set things _back_ because of the nature of their relationship and the changes they had undergone; also because whilst they were yōkai, they were not _beast_ yōkai – and despite what most people thought, many insectoid yōkai fit into that category. Moths were far closer to mammals in their actions than most would think – and Byakuya was even more so due to his constant exposure to canine actions and being in a canine pack. His unconscious (and _granted_ ) wishes for his body to be able to accept inu instincts better just solidified that.

It was probably only like this because he had been created, and whilst Sesshōmaru had taught the boy his proper general culture and mannerisms, he had manipulated things so that Byakuya still felt slightly _more_ comfortable reacting in a manner more similar to how inu would react; so that while in certain company Byakuya could act properly, but privately he would react as Sesshōmaru preferred. Both parties were firmly aware of this and pleased with the situation.

The thing was; whilst introducing Byakuya to the pack and introducing Sesshōmaru to more of her yōkai adopted family had been planned out, _deciding_ that it would be _Byakuya_ had been completely and utterly instinctual in nature for the woman – and that made things  far more impressive. Her mind and heart had reached out for, located, and _grabbed_ someone who was exactly what her mate needed in his life, bringing the yōkai to them in a situation that was far too convenient to be coincidence.

Especially considering the way he had connected with Kohaku.

Kagome was _already_ changing the world to suit her needs (Toga was _positive_ that the other two only came along to make bringing back who she _needed_ seem less engineered), and despite the utterly terrifying nature of his daughter and her powers and abilities, he was so looking forward to seeing those changes.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** There's mention of D/s relationship dynamics in here, and in connection with a character's personal reaction to trauma. Many people will likely severely disagree with Kagome; I can say personally that what she is talking about in here is something I've seen frequently both amongst the people I have known with PTSD (of which I am one) and amongst people with D/s dynamics in their relationship (which I have plenty of experience with, in many different ways and positions) so please don't bitch at me for it.

It's just a story, folks, and while I try to deal with everything as realistically as possible, reactions to many things are wide and varied and numerous, especially since I do not interfere and impose my own will or opinions on the story or characters, even if I want to. This is just one possible reaction out of many. Plus, even though I do agree with her _here_ , for this _particular case_ , (largely due to personal experience with a similar situation) the majority of the time many of my characters have widely different ideals to myself. Even Kagome herself, we by no means share identical outlooks on things, although in some ways we're similar – that is inevitable.

\- - -

Sesshōmaru was calm and composed now, but it had taken a lot out of him to become so. And despite his emotional state, he was nowhere ready to move from where he was right now – although part of that was because his intensely clever mate was surrounding him, rubbing along his body, riding him and overpowering his mind with physical pleasure. Her mokomoko-sama was running along his form wherever her _perfect_ body couldn't reach, and her kisses were furiously desperate – Sesshōmaru was _not_ the only one who needed to feel this right now.

Coming to the realisation this morning that his horrible, unbearable suspicions that had begun to occur – and immediately been discarded as _impossible, false, untrue, he would_ _ **never**_ – a few sennights ago were not false, were absolutely correct, that Bokusenō had _known_ this could happen and _done_ _absolutely_ **nothing** almost broke him. It completely _tainted_ what should have been an immeasurably joyful moment, the celebration of the incredible, perfect, wonderful health that his delightfully troublesome little brother had gained over night, thanks to their father.

And the joy had been immense, certainly, but the _knowledge_ that Roku had sadly, solemnly confirmed for him was gut-wrenching. Never in his life, not even when his father left for Izayoi and then his mother left for _good_ over _nothing_ (because Sesshōmaru was not stupid and knew from the beginning that there was more going on, even though he didn't know _what_ it was and so could not tell anyone else more than what was seen – well, except Kagome who knew what little he did; maybe more now if her change in attitude towards Father was any indication) had he felt so wholly betrayed.

Because although his parents had left him, they had not _harmed_ him or any he cared about. Bokusenō had known from the _start_ that Byakuya's body was or could become unstable, and had also known, he had to have, that the moth yōkai would inevitably end up becoming part of Sesshōmaru's pack.

Sesshōmaru was no fool, he was well aware that the magnolia yōkai watched over and kept tabs on anyone he felt to be intriguing or anyone he was fond of – Bokusenō was desperately intrigued by Kagome and at least moderately fond of Sesshōmaru himself, not to mention highly fond of Toga. He had been watching their group, had _seen_ Byakuya's steadily degrading, rapidly worsening, dangerously deteriorating condition, and even though he had _so many ways_ to let them know of his wish to talk to them, he _said and did_ _nothing_. Kagome's admittance that she was aware that Bokusenō was attempting to make them reach out to him and come to him had only made things _worse_.

Sesshōmaru had always before approved of the old tree's manipulations and control over the world around him – even when they ended up causing a small amount of harm to others; the outcome was more important than the individual, after all. Having now had intimate experience with those manipulations and what the old tree considered a _small amount_ of harm, Sesshōmaru was no longer approving at all. In _any way_ _whatsoever_. It was one thing to manipulate a situation when you _thoroughly knew_ what was going on and what you were doing, but Bokusenō had had _no idea whatsoever_ what exactly was going to end up going wrong with Byakuya, only that there was an inherent flaw in his body (possibly known that there were  beyond **numerous** flaws or potential flaws, as shown by how immensely different Byakuya's body was after being fixed – the switching and yōki control had obviously not been the only things wrong with his troublesome little brother), and _no guarantee at all_ that he could even be of the slightest bit of help in this situation excepting in one way.

At his demand, Kagome had told Sesshōmaru exactly what was wrong with Byakuya before he was fixed, and he had been completely appalled because it was _so obvious_ upon thinking back that the problem centred in the mind – and there was _no way whatsoever_ that Bokusenō could fix that, not without having Byakuya die and his body remade. Sesshōmaru suspected that that was exactly what his father had done, but would not pry – so long as his troublesome brother was _well_ and _whole_ it did not matter, the old man could keep his little secrets. Especially because, being an inherited ability (Sesshōmaru _had_ been able to have Seimei crafted, after all), Sesshōmaru would very likely be getting taught this ability and how to use it in the future. He had plenty of power on his own right now – and was finally becoming a more balanced and stable being; he did not need an increase in power that might upset his personal growth – becoming _himself_ and creating _himself_ was far more important than gaining more power right now.

The daiyōkai had been so _worried_ about his little brother that he was unable to think as clearly as he could regarding the ailment he suffered – as had been Kagome, until her reiki fixed that for her – but Bokusenō would not have suffered that worry or fear; he did not particularly care about Byakuya except as a way to get closer to Kagome, after all. Sesshōmaru had had the most unpleasant duty of informing his mate that the yōkai they were heading towards today would have been fully aware by now that this flaw resided in the mind and that he couldn't help by healing Byakuya or giving them advice – the only thing he could do was bring Byakuya back in the manner which he was intending to do so in the first place, before Seimei got involved.

Considering the words used that first time, it was highly likely that the only way to avoid instability was to tie the existence of the person(s) brought back to someone already alive in the dimension they would be exiting into. Bokusenō likely assumed that her fondness for the moth yōkai would make Kagome bend her opinion on the abhorrence of such an idea – or he would probably suggest that Byakuya be tied to Sesshōmaru instead. Kagome had been beyond furious at that, and even when Sesshōmaru had managed to calm her down by reminding her that Bokusenō _couldn't_ realise how an existence like that would feel to Byakuya, she had hissed out that he _would know now, dammit_ , and tartly informed Sesshōmaru that whilst she was pouring the memories she had gathered into Bokusenō, she would be pouring miko-ki into him as well because she wanted him to _physically hurt_ and **nothing** anyone could say or do would change her mind, so don't even bother trying.

That had been what began their current state of being, because Sesshōmaru had pulled her close for a kiss and reminded her of the lesson learned concerning Inuyasha's treatment of her and her subsequent _caring_ about it – allowing her anger to control her was giving Bokusenō _power_ over her. She was better than that, because his beautiful mate was perfect and wonderful, wasn't she? Beautiful and strong and better by a thousand magnitudes than some old yōkai who had so lost touch with the world that he couldn't comprehend considering a morality different to his own.

Fine, then, she _wouldn't_ make him feel the burn of purification. But she needed to get out her aggression somehow – so she turned to him and attacked, leaving a very amused inu beneath her as she roughly scratched and bit his chest and shoulders, then kissed and bit and licked and growled her way over his torso, mounting him demandingly. Her desperation was incredibly arousing and incredibly pleasing to him; Sesshōmaru was not a masochist like his mate was—if anything he was _quite_ a sadist—but the loss of control and the intense need that such roughness implied was absolutely delightful, and her actions did not actually cause him any pain – they were _nothing_ compared to the things he had felt in his long lifetime. Especially since her fangs were growing in _very_ nicely indeed and he was no longer the only one who could easily drink his mate's addictive blood. It was a delight to him that she loved his blood as much as he loved hers.

So he tolerantly and fondly allowed her her violence, partaking in a good bit himself by digging his claws into her hips deeply, occasionally grabbing her by her hair and forcing her throat upwards so he could bite into the soft flesh, drink her blood, and then attack her mark, forcing her into orgasm after orgasm. They would have to leave soon, but _until then_ they would get lost in each other.

\- - -

As soon as Kagome and Sesshōmaru were ready, she grabbed her father's hand and tugged him along, his mokomoko forming a cloud beneath them (Kagome was still too shaky with learning how to use her mokomoko to form a travelling cloud to risk it on a journey this long) and Sesshōmaru beckoning for Byakuya to fly with him. Those two followed behind them, her mate explaining the entirety of the situation to Byakuya so that Byakuya would understand why he was banned from Bokusenō's presence, and so that he could get the young yōkai to think about exactly what memories of being enslaved to show the magnolia yōkai. Kagome, on the other hand, had the unpleasant duty of informing Toga of the things that Sesshōmaru let her know this morning.

He just patiently looked over at her with a resigned sigh when he saw the look on her face, “I'm not going to like this, am I? Have you decided to purify him after all?”

She _knew_ that the look on her face was murderous, despite shaking her head, “Oh, how I was going to, but Sess rightly reminded me that it would be giving him power over me, and even though my anger cannot just drain off so rapidly, I can at least make him think he has less ability to affect me than he has. It'll hurt worse since I know he was going out of his way to make an acquaintance with me, just doing so very stupidly.”

Her father tilted his head in acknowledgement and waited for her to continue. “So, first off, Sess says Bokusenō knew damn well what was wrong with Byakuya. Without the worry clouding his mind, upon looking back at Byakuya's actions, he said it was blatantly clear that what was wrong with him was a mental illness. There could be no mistaking where it was centred in the body with anywhere else, and so Bokusenō _also_ knew that he could not help in this situation except in one way, and yet he still insisted on forcing me to go to him. Sesshōmaru is a hundred percent positive that Bokusenō's been watching us, because he's fond of you two and interested in me.”

It was clearly obvious that her father was thinking this over at the very beginning – and then rapidly agreeing with her mate and every damn bit as furious; only, because he intended to make sure that the damage done by his old friend was minimised, he would not be controlling and dismissing his anger like Sess had done. “In what way would he have been able to help?”

Cerulean eyes hardened and Kagome gritted her teeth before forcibly calming herself down. “Remember his offer in the dimension from when I showed you that interaction? Sesshōmaru is fairly certain that tying an existence birthed in that dimension to one in the dimension that said existence will be exiting into removes the risk of inherent flaws in the body. We're also fairly certain that Kagura and Kanna are fine, although we'd like you to check for us, because even though it wasn't a fucking _bond_ like what Bokusenō would have had me put them through, I still accidentally tied their lives to mine by offering them a living under my protection. It's a bit roundabout but he's fairly certain it happened that way, otherwise the servants at the summer shiro would have gotten hold of him to let him know of problems happening. Bokusenō is likely aware of this as well.”

The plan was appallingly clear, and Toga growled furiously, “He was intending to _kill_ my troublesome son – or worse, allow the ailment he was suffering from to kill him – and then _leash_ him to you, or more likely, Sesshōmaru, since you would rather he die than become bound to anyone unwillingly. And he somehow thought that I would allow this, considering he has been _watching us this entire time_. That is going to be rectified with the  utmost immediacy. You are highly correct in the fact of the resolution to the other incarnations being roundabout, but it definitely would work. The manner in which Bokusenō would have tied them to you is called leashing for a reason – it is every last bit as bad as slavery. I will not go into details, largely because I do not wish for you to to burn my old friend to ashes and remove the opportunity for him to learn a valuable lesson. To be fair, Bokusenō likely does not realise the ramifications of the spell – even if he actually realised what the spell does, he has never been someone who had the same moral code as most yōkai, being a _tree_. Elemental and plant yōkai have some very strange outlooks and ideals, just like insects and arachnids do.”

That was an _understatement_ about insects and arachnids – some of them were just plain _weird_. Bees, for instance, worked exactly as their animal counterparts did – a ruler and her handmaidens and daughters, whilst all the men were either breeding stock or servants and workers. Most female spiders were larger, stronger, and more poisonous (assuming they were poisonous) than the males were, and every damn bit as likely to kill the males after mating as their animal counterparts, which meant at _least_ half the time if the male did not immediately depart he would be food for her baby spiders once they hatched.

Moths happened to be more similar to mammalian beast yōkai than just about any other insect type, but even so they had some very strange customs and instincts; particularly in regards to intimacy – partners were _always_ either strongly dominant or strongly submissive during intimate times (and as they grew deeper in their relationship, often in public too; there was a _reason_ moths tended to stay secluded and apart from other yōkai), full stop, no in-between. Sesshōmaru was unsure which side Byakuya would fall on, but it was blatantly obvious to Kagome that as utterly devoted to Kohaku as he was, the ways in which he was, he was firmly a submissive moth, in spite of his outwards personality.

It would be really intriguing to see how the inu instincts would affect things, but mostly she was incredibly pleased that the situation was turning out like this. Byakuya would be able to help Kohaku a _lot_ with his self-trust by guiding him into a dominant role in their relationship – assuming that Kohaku didn't take to it naturally, he already was in some ways, after all. She had a feeling that it would really help in their mental healing, when it happened.

And it was no longer an “if” like it had been a moon ago; Kagome was absolutely positive it would happen eventually, probably within a couple decades, even. She wasn't letting anybody else know; Roku'd find out sooner or later, assuming he wasn't already aware, knowing her little brothers it would be a surprise for Sess and the rest of the pack, and she'd be the one dealing with Kohaku when he eventually realised his feelings, though Roku would probably be the one to deal with the realisation that Byakuya had feelings of that sort. Those feelings on Kohaku's end were, shockingly enough, _already_ developing. Incredibly subtly and probably just as slowly, but Kagome had _not_ missed the reactions Kohaku had whenever Byakuya showed him in his very understated way that he completely belonged, mind, body, and heart, to the taijiya.

It would be a _long_ time (for normal ningen, anyhow; not very long for immortals like them) before his feelings reached a state where they would be noticeable to him, and even longer before he was able to accept them, but Kagome was certain that his friendship with Byakuya had completely changed the score and how things might have turned out previously, in the best way.

She was really looking forward to watching their relationship develop.

“Kagome?”

“Hm, sorry, got lost in thought. Wondering how the inu instincts in his new body and how he naturally interprets things in a canine way when not being made to do otherwise is going to affect Byakuya's relationship interactions. _Please_ tell me his intimate alignment is as blatantly obvious to you as it is to me; Sess has no fucking idea which way it will go, and I'm pretending ignorance just in case I am miraculously wrong, so I don't influence him to be the way I believe him to be.”

Toga chuckled and shook his head, obviously knowing her thoughts on the matter, “Oh definitely, that boy is a submissive if I ever saw one, despite his regular attitude. I mean, _all_ moths are totally devoted and way beyond monogamous once their instincts choose someone, they don't even move on at the _death_ of their mate, but a dominant aligned moth would _not_ be willing to accept the idea of their affections never being returned by someone who is perfectly capable of returning them given enough time. His determination that even if Kohaku wants _someone else_ it is fine, just as long as he is happy, is a wholly submissive attitude amongst moths. If their dominant personalities weren't every last bit as obsessed with making sure their partner's needs and wants are taken care of and their happiness is secured, it would lead to a huge risk of abuse.”

She grinned and nodded, “That is _exactly_ what I thought. And is it just me or is that actually the perfect outcome? Especially since Kohaku _already_ takes charge when there's a fuck up involving Byakuya. But it is ideal, truly. Being forced to accept that someone is willing to give him that kind of power and control over them will seriously help Kohaku learn to eventually overcome his enormous self-trust issues in that manner. Definitely so once I inform him of some Facts About Power. Over time, yeah, but better than anything _normal_ could do. Especially because I fully intend on making sure that Kohaku doesn't let Byakuya hold himself back like he tends to.”

That got her a blink and a raised eyebrow as she winked over at her father, unknowingly echoing the sentiment her older brother had done earlier this morning, “Gotta have _some_ secrets, right? Let's just say I know the both of them very well already, and in the time that it will take for this relationship to develop I shall know them far better. Also...”

She grinned lightly at him, “As you have to be aware of by now, I have an ability that I keep shielded and wrapped up – it allows me to read people's emotions and mental states. Sometimes it reacts to situations and people despite being severely subdued, but when it comes to those two, I want _no fuck ups_ so I fully intend on abusing that ability so that I can take care of problems _before they start_. Like making sure that Kohaku realises from the start that the one  giving up power willingly to their partner is the one in the relationship with the _most_ power because they can always take that power back. If it is a healthy relationship, they can _always_ say “no”, even if they **never** would.”

It was obvious that Toga was stunned, but then he looked at her in a _very_ calculating manner, “You, my dear, are far too clever, yes, too clever by half. I do believe you just taught me a lesson, daughter-mine – a lesson which Byakuya will eventually need to know too, you know, to stave off resentment.”

Kagome waved her hand negligently, “Kohaku'll take care of that, trust me. The first time he makes Byakuya lose control I guarantee he'll make him talk to me, for that exact reason. Kohaku's intelligent as fuck, and will know that one, Byakuya won't have sought me out yet because Kohaku didn't _know_ about the power he had, so there was no issue, and two, even though there's actually _no chance_ at all that Byakuya will resent Kohaku eventually, because he _chose_ to give him the power he has, Byakuya will be worrying about it. I guarantee it; I'll even make sure to keep you around when I think it's going to happen so you can see me proven right.”

Her confidence was apparently highly infectious, “I bet you it won't take more than a decade for Kohaku to talk to Roku the first time because he realises that Byakuya's in love with him.”

_Hell no I am not taking that bet_. “I don't think so mister – and not just because I agree with you. I'll not have you twisting things around to your benefit and making the relationship develop unnaturally. Neither will I have Mamoru doing that, although I won't have to worry about Mamoru because Kohaku is _far_ more aware of that sneaky feline's possibilities than he lets _anyone_ know about.”

Toga looked very nonplussed at that. “How the hell do you expect to keep a _nekomata_ from manipulating such an _integral_ situation to his bonded's advantage?”

She smirked, giving him a cool look, “Think about the _trust issues_ Kohaku has. Do you honestly think that he, upon realising that even though none of the humanoid yōkai or born-ningen will _push him_ into it, everyone is  expecting him to end up with Byakuya, if anyone at all, will really allow his nekomata companion to even have a _chance_ at  forcing him into developing feelings for his moth friend? Kohaku has _just as many_ control issues as Byakuya has, they just manifest differently. Answer me this, Father; in the around six sennights that you have been here, have you _ever_ heard him ask for permission to do something? Anything at all? Even _once_?”

That earlier stunned look returned, and he blinked slowly before frowning thoughtfully, “How the _hell_ did that manage to escape my notice? Now that I think about it even _Byakuya_ asks for permission to do things _far_ more than Kohaku does; you're right, I've never once heard or seen him ask for permission to do something; he just _does_ it.”

“Exactly. Kohaku _does_ things, accepts the consequences, and moves on. _Nobody_ can tell Kohaku what to do; as much as he hates doing so, Byakuya will stop him and make sure he won't get himself hurt or damaged in any way, won't regret, but that is the closest that _anybody_ comes to being able to make him do anything. Mamoru is perfect for him because he will _make sure_ there are as few negative consequences as possible by manipulating situations to his advantage where Kohaku doesn't know it's happening; but he knows about that possibility, and once he realises how Byakuya feels he will become _immediately_ and _intimately_ aware that his bonded is most definitely not above _making_ him change his feelings.”

Father was still confused, although she could tell that his mind was working overdrive, and Kagome decided to be nice to him, “It does not take _reiki control_ to be able to block and hide something from a bond like I did your abilities in my mind yesterday, Father. It just takes determination; and wouldn't you agree that _nobody_ in our pack is as determined to do things his way as Kohaku is, after thinking it over?”

He did as she practically ordered and _thought_ about it; about how Kohaku took charge of Byakuya when he was losing control, how Kohaku engineered conversations to go in such a way that people learned a lesson at the end of them, how Kohaku did _not_ manipulate behind the scenes, instead changing things with a bold confidence that if he was in the right, it wouldn't matter, and if he was in the wrong then he deserved to accept the consequences for making a mistake. About how four times in the short time Toga had been in their camp, Kohaku had come to his alphas, Byakuya trailing with a worried resignation behind him and Mamoru at his side, letting them know he had _done_ something because he saw a problem. This was what he did, why he did it, how he did it; these were the results of his decisions and actions. If he needed to be punished he would accept it.

When Sess had been claiming her after she introduced and accepted Toga into the pack as their father, she'd mused about how Byakuya was the most likely person to get punished in a normal pack – but after more thought later on, she'd changed her mind. Most alphas would _not be amused_ at their subordinate pack members so blatantly doing things that could affect them and the pack without asking for permission. As it was, it actually _did_ amuse Kagome and Sesshōmaru; quite a bit, in fact, but more importantly, they _knew_ Kohaku intimately. He never did a single thing, no matter _how tiny_ , thoughtlessly. Every damn thing he did had thought behind it, even a decision as small as where to sit down or place an object. It didn't have to be loads of thought, but he never just made a decision without thinking about it except in a fighting situation.

It was a holdover from his time with Naraku, and would hopefully change if he ever managed to trust in himself enough for his future romantic relationship with Byakuya to go deep like she'd read about, where moth yōkai began to intertwine their intimate half and their daily half, and become highly exhibitionistic with their affections. She _seriously wanted that to happen_ – in no small part because it would mean that just one demonstration from the two of them would change the shiro _overnight_.

Kagome was _well aware_ that there was a moth couple living there, very minor nobles who were incredibly held back – because public affection Was Not Done. She wanted that to **stop** , and the best way to stop that was to have the royal family itself providing a display of affection and pleasure that would have even most beast yōkai appalled and blushing. Largely because Kagome wanted to change the fact that Western Lands court life was restrained and held back; not all the courts were like that, all one had to do was look at the ōkami to see _that_. She wanted it to be _perfectly acceptable_ in a _mixed-breed court_ for affection and flirting and pleasure to be shown publicly. Moths weren't the only yōkai who were prone to such displays frequently, after all. Red pandas generally did so as well, something the family they were closer to didn't show  at all despite the fact that it must _chafe_.

Most beast yōkai were terribly free with their affections, both in private and in public; it was despicable that they were forced to go _against their nature_ in order to interact with others at the shiro. No, the majority of them did not live there permanently, but that didn't change the fact that it _shouldn't be necessary_ for them to change their actions upon arrival.

Toga had finished his musing so she stopped her own; that was far into the future if it ever happened at all – if it didn't, she'd have to engineer something with Sesshōmaru, but she'd rather not be _that_ in-your-face about what she was doing. Byakuya being a moth was simply convenient. Kohaku would grow along with Byakuya and follow moth instincts; he was already doing so in small ways, without realising it. “So, you're saying that Kohaku will beyond chafe at the idea of anyone changing his feelings _for him_ and engineer a situation which means that nobody can change his feelings for Byakuya, thus allowing them to develop naturally and without interference in spite of having a nekomata companion?”

She grinned and nodded, “That's _exactly_ what I'm saying! Kohaku is smarter and stronger than people give him credit for when they meet him. The pack are probably the only people who really get to see how dangerous he is. He lets everyone else underestimate him because he has learned that being underestimated is the best weapon one can hold. I pity anybody who tries to hurt Byakuya in any way whatsoever, to be honest, even if it is before the two of them enter into a romantic relationship. They will regret it for the rest of their lives, even if Kohaku never lays a finger on them.”

That seemed to stun her father, and he receded into thought once more, leading Kagome to fall behind (jumping from Toga's mokomoko cloud and onto Sess' cloud that he obligingly widened for her) and ask Byakuya, “Have you the memories for me, little brother?”

Her once-enslaved younger brother nodded to her, and they stopped for a moment in their travels so that he could kneel down and she could place her hands upon his head, slide her reiki into his mind, and copy the memories that were in the forefront. He had made good choices – Naraku showing him directly after birth what had happened to all the _others_ and letting him know what would happen if he rebelled similarly. Following _stupid fucking orders_ and knowing that even if you did them right your master might kill you. _Chafing_ at the bonds of slavery – there were  four of those, Byakuya was apparently _very_ furious with Bokusenō. One of those horrific nightmares Naraku had poured into his mind, night after night, to make sure that he _never thought_ about rebelling even once.

No, Kagome was nothing like Naraku, but the old magnolia needed to know why the mere _idea_ that anybody sane would tie someone else's existence to theirs in such a way was abhorrent, even in this day and age. Kagome was adding her own memories to it; learning about slavery as a child and her reaction to it, how she _felt_ about what Naraku did whenever he created an incarnation, the fury and illness she felt at the idea of having to take responsibility for _anybody_ in such a way that Bokusenō had suggested. The knowledge that _every last one_ of Naraku's incarnations with their own will that had lived any decent amount of time had rebelled against him and most of them had tried to kill him or free themselves; or both.

Kagome firmly aligned them into the morass of memories that she was already planning to feed to the yōkai, making sure to place them in such a way as to make the most emotional impact. Bokusenō might have a different moral code to yōkai and ningen _right now_ , but Kagome was going to make _damn sure_ that **nobody** as powerful as he was managed to escape having a taste of  her morality shoved into their brain. Toga could add things to it so that Bokusenō had his own better code of morality – he would stick to his own more easily than someone else's – but for the sennight that he was being ignored, Bokusenō would firmly believe the world worked how Kagome thought it did.

Needless to say, it was _very_ good that she didn't have the same innocent views she had her first year here, although her heart and intentions were still almost disturbingly pure. Kagome did her damnedest to make sure she _did not think_ about the fact that if her intentions and heart were not so pure the Shikon that would be residing in her not too long from now (there were only a _very_ few shards left) would manage to taint, twist, and manipulate her actions and decisions to its own advantage.

If her family wanted to make sure, in the future, that she never had to deal with the realisation that the Shikon actually _had_ given her power, she was inclined to let them; in no small part because knowing she had power would change her outlook, and she wanted to keep it how it was as long as possible. So she yet again veered away from that small, deliberately hidden part of her mind and went back to the memories, checking them over, ensuring the order in which they were placed was designed for maximum impact, and readying herself – they were almost to their camp for the night. Tomorrow would be meeting Bokusenō and firmly correcting his views.

The only reason Kagome wasn't about to kill him (and she very well fucking _could_ ; now that she was unsealed, at full power, and had learned how to use her reiki to magnify her miko-ki, she could kill a yōkai as strong and as old as him if she really tried) for the spell he had put over them that tied the pack's existence state to their own was because it was done by _will_. If Kohaku and Byakuya didn't actively want to be tied to them in such a way, they wouldn't be. Kagome hadn't thought about the spell for a couple sennights but once she had she'd been furious because Bokusenō had just _done_ that _without warning or asking them_ – but then she thought over it and remembered that it wouldn't happen unless the members knew about it and actively wanted it, so she had forgiven the tree and gone back to deciding that if he wanted a friendship he could have one.

That was no longer the case.

\- - -

“Ah, Toga, how are you doing today? Are you the only one here? That is somewhat of a shock.”

_Of course it's a shock, asshole, you think that we're falling in line with your plans. Surprise! We're fucking **not**._ Kagome was hidden right now, under an illusion that would let up when she willed it – Byakuya was  scary with the things he could do. Hopefully not all moths were so unlimited, though they all suspected they weren't, according to Kohaku the mere idea of unlimited illusions had appalled the one moth yōkai Naraku had talked to, so it was highly likely that Naraku had just cheated with Byakuya. Naraku cheated with everything; Kagura shouldn't have been able to control the dead and Kanna shouldn't have been able to steal souls. Those were not abilities natural to wind elementals or void yōkai.

“I'm not doing very well old friend. You see, someone I used to trust implicitly betrayed my trust by forcing my pack to go through an immense amount of suffering and pain, because one of my pack members was ill in a way nobody could have known about before, and instead of telling us about what was going wrong, he kept silent, despite the intense pain, fear, and worry it was causing all of the ten other members of my immediate pack. Not to mention myself, as well.”

Kagome's shields were open to Bokusenō, so she was perfectly able to get some measure of vindication; she _felt_ the moment when Bokusenō became worried, the moment he felt chastised, the moment he realised that his friend was actually _upset_ with him. Toga just continued. “Especially because he was well aware that he couldn't do anything decent to change the situation, just offer a solution that nobody in my pack would ever take, meaning that my troublesome son would have died, and stayed dead, if it weren't for my special ability. I am _beyond disappointed_ in you, Bokusenō.”

It was her turn now, and Kagome stepped forwards and dispelled the illusion that had been covering her and hiding her presence. “I'm going to **make** you understand how wrong you were to do what you did, whether you want me to or not.”

Then she knelt and repeated the position she had taken moons earlier, pouring the selected memories into his body. Once finished she left the grove, vaguely hearing Toga speaking to the magnolia. It wasn't the furious confrontation she'd been expecting when she first decided to see him, but as Toga followed her from the grove, she thought this was a better outcome by far.

When she was finally fully out of the grove, Sesshōmaru could sense the remaining anger and frustration roiling inside of her mind – oh a part of her, vindictive and cruel, desperately wanted to stay. Wanted to _watch_ as the old tree became appalled and horrified with what he'd done to them. Watch as guilt consumed him and overtook him. She _still_ wanted to purify the fucker. She restrained and forced that part of herself down though because she knew that feeling things like that would just do bad things to everyone around her.

It said a lot about the kind of wonderful, perfect person he was that her Sesshōmaru didn't even sigh or complain or chastise her for her feelings, which he knew as well as she did had to be carefully controlled – he simply walked over, picked her up, and told Toga and Byakuya not to expect them back until it was time to leave.

They hadn't been planning on leaving to be alone until tomorrow, but her mate knew what she needed, and they'd only just come from their camping spot, it wasn't even noon yet – Toga and Byakuya could entertain themselves for the rest of the day, easily.

Kagome, however, needed to just _stop thinking_.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N 1** **:** Shittttt. I am SO sorry for forgetting about this fic; life was kicking me in the ass, I lost my laptop, and because I'm not uploading WW to fafinet (I did this business a year and a half ago over there lol) it slipped my mind. I finally have my own laptop again now however, so I will begin updating it again now! You get TWO chapters today so please enjoy!  <3

\- - -

**A/N 2:** Blatant sex at the beginning, **but** for those interested in their actual intimate relationship and how it works, it goes into the dynamics of the relationship between Kagome and Sesshōmaru shortly in, and talks a _lot_ about how they work with her newer abilities, help keep her from getting overwhelmed with the power she has as alpha, and things to do with the Shikon, so, I'd honestly just read the damn sex scene, or skim over it until that point, and then skip to the break if you don't wanna read the rest of the scene between them. Just because of how this chapter starts and knowing not everyone is okay with sexual content, **there will be a visible break after which we see Toga and Byakuya**. ALSO BYAKUYA IS NOT BEING CRUEL. Just lettin' y'all know ahead of time so you don't close this bitch as soon as the demonstration begins. This chapter was one of the latest to be completed because the nature of the demonstration meant I had to see how the story created itself in order to provide an accurate description. So none of the things mentioned in this demonstration were planned out ahead of time, they developed naturally.

Also: As far as I can tell, Nihonjin means Japanese as in relating to their country, its culture, etc. I might be wrong in this; if I am please correct me so that if I need to use it again in the future, I do not use it wrongly and so I can correct the usage of it in this fic!

\- - -

“I'm sorry. I know you wanted to spend a day with Byakuya, and I'm interrupting that just because I can't stop thinking things that might get someone hurt and I jus-”

Sesshōmaru shut her up with a kiss, and then with his mokomoko sliding under her haori and rubbing over her _very_ bare breasts, making her gasp and arch softly. “I can spend time with him whenever I wish. However, time with you has to be scheduled, and besides...”

He mouthed at her ear, down her neck, and to her collarbone, “It has been a while since I managed to drive you to heights of pleasure so intense you could not think whatsoever. Far, far too long.”

Oh, _Kami_. Kagome moaned and shuddered, gasping lightly and arching into mokomoko and his mouth, whining softly with eager little wriggles within her lover's arms as he rubbed his fingers and claws in circles over the fabric covering her skin while his mokomoko continued to tease her, sliding around her breasts and moving down into her hakama, rubbing over her panties, which were rapidly becoming absolutely _soaked_ from all the stimulation. Meanwhile he was harshly biting and sucking at her collarbone, tasting her blood even as her wounds healed, leaving deep bruises that took longer to heal because they _both_ liked how she looked with those delicious hickeys all over her skin.

It was ages – and Kagome was ready to orgasm _so badly_ – before her mate finally undid her obi, tossing it aside, parting open her haori and hanjuban, and biting her mating mark, _viciously_. The resulting orgasm made her so out of it that when she came to she was nude, laying on Maru's mokomoko, and  still panting heavily.

Her words were slurred as he bit and sucked at all her most sensitive places, and his method of distraction had worked; she could not for the life of her remember what had caused him to be driving her to said distraction, although she was _not_ going to complain about it. It'd been utter ages since he'd done _this_ to her _._ “Maru? When'd-nnhah! Oh please, again!”

He'd bitten her clit lightly just as she said that, so he rolled the hard bud between his sharp teeth and then flicked his tongue against it – just barely. It was a signal when he did that; no orgasm without permission, but _oh_ , she was so close and “P-please, Maru, pleeease, hah, k-kitten needs so badly!”

Only that wasn't _good enough_ and they both knew it, so he sucked lightly before rolling it between his teeth again, causing her to arch and shudder, mewling out a broken, “P-please, Maru, please! kitten n-needs to cum!”

And that was _it_ and oh _Kami_ she almost blacked out again as he licked and sucked and bit simultaneously, forcing her body into another orgasm in what _had_ to be less than five minutes after the last one. And then he just  kept it up, forcing her to continue cumming for Kami knew how long before he finally lapped a few times at her clit, ceasing the sucking and allowing her to come down as he slowly slid into her body; wet, even tighter than usual from orgasm, and twitching, again from her orgasm. His deep growled groan was a most pleasing sound, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him down into a hungry, loving kiss as she opened herself up to his body. Despite her complete and utter submission to him, she was _still_ his equal.

They had agreed on a balance and it was this; he could either restrain her movements _or_ he could control when she orgasmed; the only times it was both at once was when she'd had too much of being alpha and  desperately needed a complete and utter lack of control in anything. Even then, it was at _her_ request that such a thing happened, although Maru was free to suggest it any time he liked. Usually when he did she eagerly complied, because he was far better than she was at noticing when the amount of visible, tangible control she had over her pack was getting to be too much for her and she just desperately needed the lack of control. Sometimes it was as simple as the children using _her_ mokomoko to sleep on and Sesshōmaru keeping her body still with his own while he used his hands to drive her into sobbing into his mind for release, denying her over and over again until the point that she would pass out once she orgasmed.

Kagome was not even the _slightest_ bit ashamed to admit that those were always the nights she got the best sleep.

When they had agreed on this format, Kagome had been a bit sceptical of his ability to control when she orgasmed, but he had commented to her that her body seemed to be changing in ways that _she_ wanted; shouldn't she be able to just make it so?

Apparently she was able to just make it so because it'd certainly happened – if he chose dominance in the form of orgasm control she literally _could not orgasm_ until he gave her permission or performed an action designed to immediately make her orgasm. Similarly, he could pretty much make her orgasm just by demanding her to do so; and it wasn't a wimpy, half-there one, either. Every single fucking time she came with her Maru it was deep and satisfying, even as it left her craving more on occasions like today when the point was to just _keep it up_.

Why they were keeping it up she couldn't remember but she knew for a fact, because it'd happened before, that whatever had earned her displeasure would no longer be a problem because it had brought _this_ about. That was, in fact, the only reason this kind of thing even happened; Maru tried it once on a whim and she'd been actively thankful for the idiot ningen who'd refused to accept that she was already taken, and they realised that it was a good way to reduce her anger and keep it from making something too bad happen in retribution.

Sesshōmaru knew that Kagome was subconsciously aware of her control and the abilities the Shikon were granting her, but also of her wish to not have to _realise_ it until the time was right, so he'd helped hide those thoughts in such a way that whenever they cropped up they immediately got placed behind a barrier that would simply negate them until such a time as she willingly called for her knowledge of her control and power. In the meantime, however, he simply did his best to mitigate or prevent any unnecessarily negative consequences. That word “unnecessarily” was absolutely _integral_ because if he prevented just  any negative consequences, the Shikon would force its will even worse; they only prevented the worst of them, and let it have its way the rest of the time.

Ah! Her musings were broken as he bit into her lower lip, his eyes watching her and glowing with molten gold; lust, love, desire, passion, dominance all swirling around in those orbs with beautiful slit pupils that just enhanced the depth of the emotions present in them. “ _Thinking of you,_ _koishi,_ _and how perfect you are._ ”

There was definitely smug amusement radiating into their bond as he deepened the action into a kiss and responded to her, “ _Mmm you are every bit as perfect, aite. Now,_ _cum_ _._ ”

She arched and cried out into his mouth as her body obeyed his command, leaving her shuddering and writhing beneath him because he was telling her she _couldn't stop yet_ , not until he gave her permission to do so. Oh, _Kami_ it felt so good, so good, and he was moving inside of her and she knew he was half doing this because he adored how she felt when she was pleasured like this; her insides tight and twitching and pulsing around him. Instead of upsetting her, that knowledge just made her orgasm all the sweeter, because she was _pleasing_ her mate just by doing as he ordered her to, and nothing was better than making Maru feel good.

Nothing _at all_ , because he was literally the best thing that had ever happened to her and _could_ ever happen to her; full stop.

\- - -

Byakuya laughed as his alpha spirited away his alpha bitch and turned to Toga with a grin, “So, how about I start that demonstration for you and just let it go until they come back or just before then? Since I slept so well last night – and died, hah – I have enough energy to stay up a few more days. Thank you again, by the way. I knew there was something wrong, but bein' back to where I was back when I was created is absofuckinglutely wonderful.”

Toga grinned and tilted his head. That was an acceptable proposition, so they moved back their camp, chattering softly about commonplaces until they arrived, at which point suddenly the world _changed_ , and Toga was… Ah! He was with his beloved mate and his delightful son, of course, as he should be. That delegation he had watched in hiding had been long and arduous but nothing near as bad as he knew they could get, and he had his beloved eldest daughter to thank for that.

He smiled and kissed his mate deeply as she entered his embrace, their son climbing up his side until he was perched on his head, not caring that his parents were deep in impassioned kissing. When they finally pulled away he picked up Daisuke and held him close, nuzzling his forehead, “Good afternoon son, have you been a good boy for your mother?”

His son chirped his answer to him cutely, his mother's grey eyes shining up at him. “Yes, Papa, this Daisuke was a very good boy and did his shamisen lessons for Mama, I like the shamisen so much!”

Both of Toga's other sons had inherited the silver inu golden eyes; Sesshōmaru the pure gold and Yasha a more amber-gold, but not his beautiful Daisuke. His eyes were the grey-blue of a stormy sky above the sea. He was a miracle; but then again, it ran in his family. Until he found out he had a soul-mate Toga had been content to live his life alone with just his large family surrounding him; and certainly by the time she came he had largely forgotten about that and he had not expected his wife and mate, Elizabeth, to come marching into his life and take it over as she had. From the moment they met it was instant attraction, which deepened into a profound, all-consuming love that he had never felt before in his life. Elizabeth, however, was so like his dearest elder daughter that he'd almost had a panic attack and spent several nights searching his feelings – but no, there was nothing inappropriate there; it was simply that he and his eldest son had similar taste in women.

And all because England had decided to send over an ambassador to the Nihonjin Western courts, hoping to interest one of the pack of where the power _truly_ sat into becoming attracted to her to cement their alliance with something more permanent than paper. Elizabeth had even taken his status – that which _nobody_ outside of Nihon was aware of, in the name of keeping the peace because _so many wars_ would be started if it was revealed that the Inu no Taishō was alive and well – in stride, kept it secret, and proved that his status mattered not at all to her. To everyone else outside of Nihon—and even mostly inside of Nihon, as well, to be truthful, only a few groups of people knew his true status and they were sworn to secrecy with powerful Vows—he was Toga Taishō, younger _brother_ of the Inu no Taishō (who had, outside of his courts, _never_ used his first name, only his title, to the point that even none of the court members had recognised him except a spare few who had all offered their own Vows because they knew what him being back might mean), and  adopted father to Sesshōmaru Taishō and Yasha Taishō. And Elizabeth accepted him as that as well.

He looked lovingly at his mate again and smiled as his son reached up between them and pulled on their hair, causing both adults to laugh. Elizabeth had stunningly beautiful strawberry blonde hair that curled in soft, loose ringlets, and her skin was fair, the colour of cream, with light freckles scattered over the bridge of her nose and on her shoulders. She was beautiful and she knew it – despite the fact that in England women who wore glasses were seen as more intelligent; thus less attractive because despite yōkai women being generally more level-headed than the males, and ningen females becoming to be that way after all of his daughter's fiddling around, _potential_ intelligence was evenly spread and women with glasses _looked_ more intelligent than their masculine counterparts, who generally refused the aid of glasses unless they had a very severe sight disability indeed.

Elizabeth was the only yōkai he'd ever meet who needed glasses, but it was due to an incident when she was a babe and her father had spilled alcohol onto the floor – it had gotten into her eyes and because it was a very _strong_ yōkai alcohol indeed, damaged them permanently. The problem was not worsening, but it would never get better. Toga would have her no other way though, because she was perfect as-is. Especially because she had no self-confidence issues despite being derided as a child by her playmates; her parents had raised her properly, to be well educated, cultivated her insatiable curiosity and eagerness to learn, and told her that no matter what ningen males thought and no matter what other yōkai thought, she was gorgeous in spite of her lenses. They still somehow managed to do this without making her vain or self-centred, either. It was a miracle.

The first time he had met them, Toga had bowed very deeply indeed, expressing his profound gratitude for raising such a perfect vision of a daughter. Her mother had laughingly called him a charmer and he winked at her before kissing her hand as was custom in England, then firmly shaking Elizabeth's father's hand.

They both strongly approved of their daughter's chosen mate, and visited often to dote on Daisuke.

That reminded him… “Very good, Daisuke. Elizabeth, dearest, when was it that Jonathan and Kristen were planning to visit next again? I can't for the life of me remember, but I know it was relatively soon.”

They were both younger than him, which made it difficult for him to call them “Father” and “Mother”.

“A moon and a fortnight, aite. How was the delegation meeting that Yoru had you watching? His illusions continue to astound me, our beloved children are all so talented in their ways, but his ability still staggers my mind when I think of it. It is a good thing few of his kind are aware of the scope of his talents or they might all up and try to dispatch him.”

Toga shook his head at that. Yes, Yoru's illusions were immeasurably complete, the one showing him _this_ had proved that, but the moths who knew had made it clear that because he used them in ways which further protected their general breed of yōkai, others would only celebrate them; it was only to keep those outside of the original core pack and their significant others from becoming aware of his abilities that as few moths knew of his theme being that of change itself as did. Otherwise he would be celebrated as a hero despite the terror his scope would incite, because to moth yōkai, protection of the breed and the culture was more important than anything else. “No, he would be regaled and celebrated, despite any initial fright, if they knew; their kind work to protect the breed over everything else, it is why they have been such good support in dear Kagome's plans to make sure yōkai and ningen become staunch allies and that hanyō are made acceptable.

“There are likely more moth hanyō out there than all others combined, in no small part because so many of them found that ningen made wonderful mates and they created their own spells to tie the lives of ningen mates to the lives of the yōkai mates. It is why they have two different mating rituals instead of one. Granted; in Nihon that part had been forgotten, but once it was made aware that Yoru had no tribe or specific moth breed he belonged to, they could finally share the information with him to take back and spread amongst the tribes here, which has been a blessing to their breed, because although they seem comparatively populous compared to other breeds of yōkai, the fact that within their breeds they have varied types and kinds to an extent that other yōkai simply do not have means that they are actually _sparse_ in comparison, since no tribe has more than a dozen or two dozen members and every tribe is a different moth breed.”

The core pack had all learned an indescribably enormous amount of intricacies about moth yōkai culture, breeds, tribes, all sorts of things because of Yoru, as well as Jin, Rika, Arisa, Sora, Gregor, Larisa, Jennifer, Sofia, and Hana. Now a type of yōkai that had been on the verge of dying out, despite them finding hanyō to be acceptable and being more than willing to take ningen for actual mates, was no longer nearing extinction.

Considering that even the weakest moths were daiyōkai potential (although very few of them ever actually attained daiyōkai state of being) due to them having no even moderately sentient beast-counterparts and being indescribably talented at their theme, even if they had little yōki or physical power… Well. Toga was best pleased with his eldest daughter for her bringing Yoru to them.

“Hmm, how intriguing; so the moth breeds are more like a species or race that considers themselves one whole with separate sub-cultures that all must be protected and rarely intermingled, and because of this, they were dying out… But Yoru's presence informing them of Kagome's plans meant they became more determined to live and began purposely intermingling with ningen, thus meaning more of them found suitable mates amongst ningen and their breeds are becoming more populous once again, even if only by ningen and hanyō... How very interesting. Anyhow, we can chat about that later; the delegation?”

He walked into their comfortable home, passing through the stunningly cultivated gardens that Elizabeth worked in constantly – she liked getting her hands dirty, and Toga had to admit, he did as well when it came to gardening; something he never would have found out were it not for her. Sesshōmaru had confessed to him that Kagome and Rin had done the same to him. “It went remarkably well; Kagome is a master at her trade and kept all arguments to a minimum, soothed irritated nerves, her tea made everybody happier and more content, as well as made them just feel _better_ overall. The alliances made are foolproof, and last centuries, at which point they will be totally unnecessary, to be honest. We both know the changes dear Kagome has made will affect the development of the world entire for eternity until it ends.”

She laughed at that and took Daisuke from him so they could sit down for dinner; they had a few servants to make life easier for them but that was it, despite more wanting to serve them. They simply didn't want a home large enough to accommodate them. So they only had the three; a nanny for Daisuke when both of them had to be busy and to tutor him, a chef, and a cleaning maid. Soon dinner was served and they ate of the luxurious meal; fresh and cured fish, made into various types of sushi and sashimi, sweet and salty onigiri, and grilled calamari, as well as grilled and sliced daikon, onions, carrots, and eggplants; all native to Nihon, as their meals always were. For the adults, there was sake and shōchū available to drink, which they both partook of; especially the shōchū. It was ningen shōchū, rather than yōkai shōchū, so neither could get really even mildly buzzed; but it was sweet and delicious.

Luckily for both of them, Elizabeth preferred Nihonjin food to English food. It meant that whilst their son grew up with two cultures to learn, he was well beyond familiar with the food of the culture in which he was born, and one culture was rather less taught than the other; he knew as much as he needed to get by but wasn't forced to have a huge split in his life.

Of course, Elizabeth still taught him proper etiquette for when eating in England since every other year they spent the Christmas season with her parents.

Once dinner was finished and the maid was collecting their dishes, Toga and Elizabeth spent some time in the garden with their son, playing with him and teaching him; both of them in shrunken forms of their true inu forms, teaching him the skills he needed in his life. He truly was adorable, with a coat of platinum blonde that he inherited from his grandfather, and soft curls of the kind his mother had. Really, he looked very little like Toga superficially, but his bone structure as he aged was growing closer to his father's, just with hints of his mother's bloodline here and there, such as his blue-grey eyes and platinum hair.

Then it was time for bed, and he smiled as their nanny settled Daisuke down for the time until he entered their room and he led Elizabeth into their bedchamber, which was a work of art.

Cherry wood walls with a burgundy finish, ebony furnishings, soft forest green rugs, midnight blue blankets with ivory sheets, a plethora of midnight blue and forest green pillows, with small, square cream ones for accent. She smiled as he undressed her slowly – there was no rush, after all, their son was well used to coming into their room late at night when they weren't at one of his son's shiros where the core pack all slept together to reaffirm the family bonds.

Even then, he generally slept in the pack-room with Rin, and sometimes Shippō, until the various couples had finished their intimacy together and dribbled into the pack-room to sleep on the enormous group of futons on the ground so that there were no more, er… _incidents_ like the one that caused a few people (Toga included, although that was mainly to add to the hilarity of the situation) to fall off of Sesshōmaru's bed back all that time ago.

Toga carefully folded his mate's clothes and placed them aside in the basket meant for their clothing that needed to be laundered, and allowed her to undress his simple outfit. These days, no yōkai wore body armour excepting the ōkami, and they had reason to since fights amongst pack-members for position in the pack were integral to ōkami culture and they didn't want fights to end in deaths or too much bloodshed. Even so, nobody openly wore weapons unless they were Fangs or unless the person in question was a taijiya or a ningen warrior; the latter of which were fewer and fewer in number with each passing year, and the former of which were still well in business, as lesser yōkai bred like flies and would always be everywhere. Not to mention that just because the world was a far better place than it used to be, did not mean that corruption was abolished. Of course, people in his pack had a special pocket dimension to store their weapons in, but only those in the core pack; so even though they all had Fangs they generally did not carry them on their persons visibly.

When she finished, he led her to the bed and laid her out on it gently, kissing and biting his way down her body, spending extra time on all the places he knew she liked best, before attacking her, his tongue and mouth rapidly forcing her into an orgasm that left her shaking. Then he slid inside of her and began to rock, kissing her with all the love he had as they joined together, each eagerly partaking of the pleasure to be had.

Once they both completed, he had the nanny bring their son into their magic-made onsen and they all bathed together, then slipped into their sleeping yukata and dropped their son onto the bed, each of them pouncing on either side of him and cuddling him close as they slipped into sleep.

Toga was awoken the next morning by the maid gathering their clothes to be laundered for the sennight, and he shot her a smile as she left, kissing his wife and mate into awakening. They were able to indulge for quite some time before their son awoke, and when he did he had kisses peppered onto his cheeks and chest by his loving parents, after which they all dressed in simple hanjuban, hakama, and kimono, with thin obi tying them shut – his daughter had done a wonder for formal fashion, so that everyday clothes could be worn whenever they wished. It'd taken her time, but she got there, although in the court many nobles still dressed traditionally, partly because they enjoyed the feeling of being in a higher position than others, despite that a good portion of the nobles, all of the core ruling pack, and most of the rest of the ruling pack all dressed informally. Some people were just absurd.

Then they followed their skipping son into the dining room for a breakfast of omelets and fried rice with peas, onions, and carrots, as well as some diced boar. All in all it was a delicious, balanced meal. Then it was time for Daisuke to go to his lessons with his nanny, Elizabeth to go to her reading and piano-playing as she did every other day when she wasn't using lessons-time for gardening, and Toga wanted to have an _actual_ visit with his large and wonderful family. Smiling, he departed…

Only to wake up finding Byakuya playing with some origami cranes, both of them standing, and Toga torn between total awe because he had barely even had time to prepare that and it had felt so incredibly... just... and then there was absolute _fury_ because that  wasn't real-

“Please do not tell me anything you just saw, Father, because it was **real**. Over time you'll forget the details, the names, so that you don't change the future. But Kagome-ne told me you had a developing soul-bond which means that your soul-mate is in the process of becoming an adult. She tagged your bond with her reiki when I asked her to, so I could use it to form my illusion. I asked for most of a day with you spending a peaceful time with your soul-mate, long enough in the future for you to have had a child because I know that you never got to raise Sesshōmaru-ni the way you wanted to, and didn't get to raise Inuyasha at all.

“I wanted to give you most of a day for you to have a normal, simple family with your soul-mate because I know you tied yourself to Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni like Kohaku and I did, because you don't want them to suffer your death. So I knew that you will certainly meet your soul-mate because what Kagome-ne wants, she gets. While you were doing that; here.”

With that, he handed over the four origami cranes in his hands. They were _completely enveloped_ in yōki, what on  earth?

“Those are the summons, I made them while you were in your illusion because when I do them I just have to set a few boundaries and items and then they run themselves in the back of my mind. Part of my mind knows exactly what you saw but my conscious mind would not know anything unless I had to meddle, which I really didn't at all. It worked perfectly, I hope. And don't worry about the origami, they can't be crumpled or anything. They will, um… What was that word Kagome-ne used…? Oh! Teleport! Yes, teleport. They will teleport from you to me when you just say something like that you could use my help or aid, and tell them what you want from me.

“Then they will disappear from in front of you and appear in front of me, and if I am amenable, Kohaku and I will hold onto them and we will appear in front of you, while copies of us – solid illusions that can be touched and felt and controlled by us even when we are doing other things, because we are split – will stay with the pack, tell alphas where we went and why, and then do whatever needs done for the pack.”

Okay; that was _bloody amazing_ , but before he said any of that, he shoved the origami into the pocket of his trailing sleeve and grabbed his troublesome son in an enormous hug. “ _Thank you so much_ , Byakuya. You do not know what it means to me to have this hope, to know that I have a future aside from temporary partners. Death teaches you many things, and one of which is that everyone in their final existence has a significant other, not necessarily soul-bound, but a destined mate. I forced myself into having this as my final existence, so I was absolutely _positive_ that there would be no such thing for me, and whilst I was content with this existence...”

Byakuya hugged him back just as hard and nodded against his shoulder, “It isn't the same without someone to _love_ like that. I know. That's why I picked that to do yesterday. I knew I had the ability to do that even though I never had done so before but you fixed me so thoroughly I felt it safe to assume any meddling would be unnecessary or very little at all. I was monitoring the illusion, and everything in that illusion was clearly real and tangible; you ate food and digested the food, and you are not hungry now are you?”

He shook his head in wonder; he truly still tasted breakfast. The black haired moth yōkai sat down on a log after her exited the hug once that was said, presumably so he could speak with ease and in comfort, but when he made a piece of parchment appear, Toga became as interested in the origami as he was in the words his son was saying. “I can create emotions in people – and I can _change_ them and _shift_ them, affecting the actual emotions people are having without falsifying the emotions. Basically Naraku made me to be the best and strongest of all his previous incarnations, cheated horrifically, and came up with someone who is probably more powerful than anyone else alive when it comes to the sheer scope of my abilities, although Sesshōmaru-ni is still more powerful than me; in part because I chose for him to be my alpha, but also because I'm pretty sure he can just push through my illusions given enough time. It's really good that Naraku enslaved me because it made me force myself into mediocrity and do my damnedest to sabotage him when I could get away with it without actively working against him. I can't tell most people about my theme, all moth yōkai either have a sense they can control illusions over, or a theme. And my theme is “change”. _Change_ _itself_.

“The scope is terrifyingly broad and consuming, even to myself. When I realised just how powerful I was Sesshōmaru-ni, Kagome-ne, Kohaku, and Mamoru holed up with me for two days to get me over that breakdown I had because I was nearly petrified of myself. I was so fucking scared but they reminded me that if I used my abilities and learned to control them it would be much better than letting them sit and ignoring them, especially because the better control I have, the more chance I have of not having accidents. We already figured out that – well at least before you fixed my body, I think the alcohol part has changed most likely since you drink – I react very badly to mind-altering substances, my yōki just goes totally out of control and produces… Just... It's bad. I only ever got drunk once, and even though I know I probably can get drunk now because your body has a normal yōkai tolerance, I probably will always be careful around it.

“Other drugs do that to me as well, someone asked me when we visited Kagome-ne's neko yōkai friend three sennights ago to be a test subject to see if something that was supposed to be an aphrodisiac for moths worked; she knew about my feelings for Kohaku and wasn't expecting anything from me, but I still had Sesshōmaru-ni put up a barrier around her just in case, 'cause she took an aphrodisiac of her own kind, and gave me a _lot_ of the aphrodisiac since being created she didn't know if I could even be affected by them, but... It affected me really fast and my yōki lost control then too. That probably wasn't fixed because your body doesn't know about that kind of stuff. It's a relief though, to have such a strong weakness.

“Not to mention the touching thing; you're well aware by now that being touched makes me incredibly ill. It just isn't good at all. I'm immortal, truly so, and all-powerful, but I have at the very least two strong weaknesses.”

Byakuya paused for a moment, before something appeared to occur to him and he continued on speaking. “Oh and if I reject an offer you make, the chances are I had particularly bad nightmares that night. You never saw this, but way back when I first joined the pack, my nightmares used to make my yōki go out of control, not just in causing illusions but in forcing my nightmares upon those around me. Sesshōmaru-ni and Kagome-ne worked together to make a barrier so that if I am willingly asleep, my nightmares don't affect my yōki; but if I am drugged or knocked out by an enemy or whatever… Well… Get out of the way please because otherwise you will get hurt. For now anyway. I'm working with Kagome-ne on a way to protect my allies from my out of control yōki. Anyhow, when I have really bad nightmares, as opposed to the usual ones, my yōki control is always a lot worse, and even though it's still comparatively really great, I don't want to do things for you when I'm not at my best.

“Kohaku thinks I will have more weaknesses because the Kami basically probably interfered with making Seimei bring me back, and while they couldn't change my abilities, they could handicap me so that I wasn't too overpowered, but we haven't been looking for them yet, I need to learn control over my complete and working abilities before I learn to compensate for my weaknesses, you know?”

Byakuya was speaking calmly the entire time, his words slow and easy as he expertly folded more origami – that must be one of those cheats Naraku did, because origami was _not_ some moth ability, especially not attaching illusions to them like he could clearly do, or the ability to make the most _amazing_ things. He'd thought Byakuya's origami was clever before; but a flaming, flying phoenix; a roaring, water-spewing dragon; a galloping sika; a grazing serow; a snake that slithered up his arm to rest around his neck… The parchment was clearly an illusion – a solid, stable, _real_ one – but Toga was  watching him fold these things, sometimes out of two or three pieces of parchment to make them complete, tearing the parchment, cutting it with his claws, twisting it… It was **stunning**.

“I think I like the origami a little better because it is severely limited compared to my normal abilities. But it's also just really fun to make pretty things, ne?”

Toga smiled at that and sat on a log next to where his son had sat after he exited the hug. “I adore painting and calligraphy; beauty makes my heart sing. That is partially why I adore your illusions so, the potential for beauty with them is astounding. Can you just pull images out of people's heads?”

“Mhm, anything, pretty much.”

“Then I will definitely ask for your aid with my recalcitrant son.”

Byakuya grinned at that, “I look forward to that, he hurt Kagome-ne a lot back then and even though I only saw a little of it, he still needs his lesson learned, strongly.”

Silver hair flowed over his shoulder as he nodded in agreement, “Most definitely, he treated her deplorably and needs to realise why how he treated her was so wrong.”

They spent the rest of the day chatting amicably, until their alphas returned, at which point they served dinner and spent a comfortable night together. It was lovely, having his family now and knowing he would have _another_ in the future.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N 1:** THIS IS THE SECOND CHAPTER UPLOADED TODAY.

\- - -

**A/N 2:** Welp, Inuyasha surprised me again, oh but what a  wonderful surprise it was. Hope y'all enjoy this as much as I damn well enjoyed writing it. Also yes his language is deteriorating, it's explained why later in the chapter.

\- - -

Kanna and Kagura were fine, and looking them over had only taken a few minutes each; as well, they were informed about the problems inherent in Byakuya and given a few origami crows for messengers in case of issues cropping up or either of them developing problems, although Toga was positive that that would not be an issue they used the crows for. He'd stayed around a couple days just to see how they interacted with the servants, guards, and workers; at his daughter's request.

It was clear that not only did every resident of the shiro completely adore the two once-incarnations, but that Kagura and Kanna adored them just as much. The yōkai girls were much, _much_ younger than they had been before, even in their original coming back into existence that he had seen in the memory of the dimension they had been in with Bokusenō, and so they were learning and being raised as much as they were simply enjoying being alive and free. It was wonderful to see that despite their returns being mere convenience to erase suspicion for the more necessary once-incarnation, they were living full, blissfully happy lives, and they were far more healed of their wounds than Byakuya had been. That was likely intentional though; _Byakuya_ was  necessary for Kagome and Sesshōmaru and the rest of their pack – Kagura and Kanna were not even really interacting with them in any way whatsoever right now, however. They had simply been brought back to make things seem more natural, Toga was certain of this.

After using one of the nifty origami crows himself to inform his alphas of this fact, he headed towards where the taijiya village was being built.

He had a son to fix.

\- - -

When Toga arrived at the place where the village was supposed to be, he was pleasantly surprised – there were ten homes already, all of them occupied, and three more in the process of being built. Sango was clearly in the village where the headman lived; the largest house there, and when he arrived she just _stared_. He grinned at her and waved her over after giving her a while to absorb his presence. She hesitated strongly for a full minute, but then she slowly approached him. “Um... Are you who I _think_ you are? If so… Aren't you, you know… Supposed to be  dead?”

He chuckled and shook his head, “The Kami decided that in order to help my recalcitrant son get his head on straight, it was necessary to bring me back to life. Well, and to help Kagome and Sesshōmaru with one of their pack-members, but my son was the most obvious reason, although not the most immediate one. You will be pleased to know that I can fix your hanyō friend's problems regarding Kagome, that they are not entirely his own fault, and that you are necessary to help because he needs a _ningen_ to watch him whilst he is under and to be around him when he wakes up that he trusts. If he were full yōkai, I could be around him, but being hanyō he needs a ningen.”

Sango was intelligent, and wary almost immediately, as well as defensive – the people his daughter drew to her were extraordinary really. Even though Sango clearly had mixed feelings towards Inuyasha, she was beyond protective of him and his health. “What does this “fix” entail, exactly?”

Toga tilted his head, silver hair cascading from his ponytail over his shoulder, “He is ignoring his baser emotional yōkai instincts. It entails fixing that problem by making them _impossible_ to ignore. You should know that without doing this, he will die; ignoring those instincts are causing his body to constantly be on alert, making him sleep far less than he should, which means either his yōkai side will take over completely and a taijiya, his brother, or I will have to kill him, or his body will degrade until there is no health left in it. These outcomes are literally inevitable if his problem is not fixed; there is no getting around it.”

She thought about this before agreeing; not because of common sense or anything: what he was saying _was_ common sense. He had been warned about this issue, however; Naraku, his incarnations, the years hunting the shards and constantly being attacked by yōkai over them, and her being raised a taijiya had, his darker son informed him, given her a prejudice against yōkai. She was far more likely to trust such words from a ningen than from a yōkai – especially one with the reputation he had had as the Inu no Taishō; despite his obvious and  blatant fondness for ningen, even. It wasn't harmful, but it _existed_ and needed to be taken into account. That Kohaku had warned him instead of Kagome was telling – Kagome was probably unaware of the depth of this if she didn't think to warn him. That was not good and this would likely cause some problems in the future, but Kohaku had reassured him that the prejudice wasn't as bad as it could be, and that he would likely only have to be concise and clear, and she would respond fine.

“Okay… that makes sense, if what I think about – wait, do you know about my theory yet?”

He nodded there, “My lovely daughter informed me of it, and upon receiving intimate knowledge of how he treated her it was rapidly deduced to be fact, rather than theory. Most unfortunately for him, and it is, just as unfortunately, half my fault. I know my blood, and mixing it with ningen blood – no offence, I am abnormally fond of ningen but with my blood being so powerful it can bring out bad traits – would allow for such cruelty. I had hoped that with Izayoi raising him it would negate that possibility, but apparently that was not the case. Had I not died in such an untimely fashion this would not be a problem; then again, had my death not happened as it did, it is likely that Kagome would never have come to this era, so perhaps it was for the best.”

The information that Kagome already knew about his presence and was close enough to him for him to call her his daughter clearly relaxed the taijiya, as her brother had told him it would. Similarly with him admitting that he was partly at fault for this so blatantly and unashamedly, but with genuine regret colouring his words. “Well in that case, be welcome here, and would you mind taking over for the both of us while we are busy with this fix of yours? We are both rather integral to the village at this point – Inuyasha being out of commission and me having to watch him whilst he is in such a state will definitely stall the building and reduce the number of missions that can safely be accepted.”

“Of course not, it would be no trouble; I quite miss patrolling the lands and dispatching troublesome lesser yōkai and malicious or nefarious greater yōkai. Now that my son does that in the Western Lands, I have little to do, although educating my recalcitrant son will most likely take up much of my time once he is fixed, the rest of it, will, of course be spent with my pack.”

He pointed to the crescent on his forehead and the taijiya nodded, before she grinned and chuckled, “I hope he'll be given breaks to help around the village; we need him. He is strong and hard working. Also, I don't know how _that_ happened, but congratulations; you must have done something astounding for Kagome to accept you as her father; last I heard she wanted to purify you bit by bit indefinitely.”

He grinned back at her, “As to my daughter, it was far simpler than even I imagined it would be; considering I am _very_ likeable and aware of this, that is saying something. I finally accepted my eldest as he was and expressed my pride in him – Kagome gave me the chance to interact with her pack whilst they were away, and I learned my eldest through them. That was apparently enough for me to earn her affection, and saving the life of a pack-mate earned my full acceptance into the pack itself. As to my recalcitrant son – oh most definitely. I will offer my aid as well when I am not visiting my pack or Bokusenō; you ought to think about asking yōkai to join your village, you know. Many of us enjoy destroying beings that would harm other beings that have done them no harm. Yes it is a bit of a contradiction considering that those beings have done _us_ no harm, but they are harming others and that is enough reason to dispatch them.”

The brown eyed woman got a very thoughtful look on her face at his last few comments, and she reclined against one of the walls of an in-progress hut. After a few minutes of thought, she asked him, “Could you recommend yōkai that would be good to have? If you do that, I can assure you they'll be welcome; some of the other taijiya had some real bad prejudices at first but Inuyasha has changed most of them now, as have stories about Naraku and all the yōkai who helped aid our fight against him – including his own minions. Of course, we told about the malevolent yōkai as well, but they are now far more aware that there are good yōkai out there. Hearing that your eldest mated the Shikon Miko despite despising the Shikon itself – and let me tell you, that itself had over half of them in utter and complete shock; the idea that any yōkai could resist the lure it holds really screwed with a huge amount of the taijiya in the mountains – also helped a lot because it showed them that yōkai could change just like us ningen can.”

Well and good! That was an offer he had not expected to be taken up on, although he had hoped she would agree. And ah, Sesshōmaru – always twisting heads one way or another with some sort of surprise or shock. His eldest son really was extraordinary. “I can think of four off the top of my head, assuming they are still amongst the living, as well as another hanyō although the hanyō will ask to have her parents relocated here with her. They are properly mated, so their lives are tied – my eldest son was unaware of this fact until recently, but with some breeds of yōkai, mating ties the lifespan of the shorter-lived yōkai to that of the longer-lived; thus it does the same with ningen. Not all breeds have this capability, but most mammalian breeds do. Few yōkai actually do so because we live violent lives and do not want our mates to die when we do, thus leaving our children to be orphans, but some of us do and this hanyō is a child of one of those who has done so.”

Sango was clearly beyond shocked at this knowledge, especially finding out that the reason that many hanyō only had a ningen parent was because of _love_ rather than because of simply not caring about the welfare of their possible child. But it was a good kind of shock, and she recovered rapidly; responding with, “Of course her parents would be welcome with her, it should help dispel some of the lingering prejudices.”

It would not dispel _hers_ , most likely, but hopefully time would do so with her.

“Yo, San-Dad? How- Why?”

He grinned at his son; it was hard to be very angry with the boy even knowing what he did. Excepting his treatment of his daughter, the boy had done him proud surviving on his own for so long, and it really was, at the base of things, Naraku's fault for his treatment of Kagome. “The Kami decided I ought to come back early and deal with a few problems. One of which being teaching you how better to deal with your instincts.”

Inuyasha was clearly relieved at that, and he sat on the ground, solemnly looking up at his father exactly like an apologetic pup did to a parent that they knew was aware of some wrong they had done when they _truly_ regretted said wrong – what on _earth_? “This is for Kagome, right? Because even though I _know_ – just watching how I treat everyone else, I know I fucked her over well an’ good, but I can't for the life of me remember why. The more time I spend away from her the more I realise how bad I was but I _can't fuckin' fix it_ an’ it's so fuckin' frustratin'. Every time I try an' think proper when it comes to her it just won't work.”

Well, then. Toga sent up a thanks to the Kami and knelt down with a solemn nod. “That you can even recognise this is a very pleasant surprise, but I will warn you; what I have to do to fix the problem will be agonisingly painful and last several days. Those instincts that kept driving you into guilt and pain because of your treatment of Kagome were your baser emotional yōkai instincts, _not_ your ningen instincts – those ningen instincts were what caused the problem to begin with because as I am aware you have had pointed out to you, yōkai simply _do not treat women like that_. Full stop.”

His recalcitrant son closed his eyes, his ears flat against his head, and he nodded. “I hurt so many people in addition to how bad I hurt Kagome, mostly 'cause I was hurtin' her, so I deserve it, and I promise I won't resent you for it. Can we get it done with soon? Its gonna take long enough as it is for me t' stop feelin' guilty, I just know it, I'd like to lessen how long it-”

Toga interrupted him softly, “There is something important you should know, my poor, not-so-recalcitrant son. Kagome no longer wants an apology for how you treated her for _herself_. Oh, she will definitely accept it if you mean it, but not until you have apologised for the reason you started treating her like that to begin with. Apologised to that person through her.”

“I'm gonna hate myself when I wake up, ain't I?”

Sango was looking on avidly – apparently she had been most unaware of the changes her hanyō friend was going through, and torn between frustration (likely that they hadn't happened _earlier_ ) and admiration at his bold acceptance of his wrongdoings and his willingness to change. “Quite probably, yes. Is there a secluded cave where you can be around Sango for the several days it will take to get this fix over with? Had you been fully yōkai I could stay with you, but as you are hanyō and it was your ningen sensibilities that caused this, rather than your yōkai ones, it must be a ningen you trust with your life who stays with you through this. Do not worry about her mental health – it will be incredibly painful for you but you will be unconscious and the pain will all be inside of your mind, rather than something you express aloud. Emotional, rather than physical – which makes it worse, trust me. Sesshōmaru had to undergo the same thing, for similar but somewhat different reasons, and he recently admitted that it was still the most painful thing he had ever experienced to this day.”

“He said that after I fuckin' _cut_ _his_ _leg_ _off_? Aw, fuck me, I really wish I didn't do whatever the fuck I did. I deserve it though. An’ whatever punishme-”

He shook his head, “The fact that you feel guilt already and are eager to change your actions and beliefs means that this will be punishment enough, although you will be getting taught properly. Like you would have been taught had I been alive. Firstmost will be learning your instincts – both sides – and your body on an intrinsic level. Since you carry my blood I will be much stricter with you on this rather than giving you the same level of training that most yōkai have to undergo when learning to control their instincts. Then you will be learning a wide variety of other things. Culture, reading, writing, maths, politics, how to wield a sword properly, hand-to-hand combat, a couple softer things… For you I think woodcarving and… Hmm, flute would be better than shamisen and can go along with the woodcarving. Court behaviour will come last, as it is unlikely you will be needing it any time soon, and therefore is the least important part of your education.”

The white-haired hanyō nodded shortly, before turning to look at the village, “What about my job here?”

“Mornings will be lessons – I am well aware of your waking habits, and although you will be sleeping far more now than you are used to, you will still be required to keep early hours – and afternoons will be devoted to helping out the taijiya. I will be recruiting some yōkai and at least one hanyō to aid them as well, so that it can be later into the afternoons before you begin helping them; I would like you to learn swiftly because I know you are more intelligent than you let on. Especially once your instincts are in working order – Izayoi might not have had powerful blood, or a particularly strong will, but being a princess she was highly intelligent and well-educated, and I can sense the potential within you, although some things you will doubtlessly learn better by doing them and seeing them done, than just by being told what to do.”

Inuyasha barked out a laugh at that, “That's for fuckin' sure. Once Sesshōmaru started sparrin' with me I picked up a _lot_ of moves from him. I might be deplorable compared t' him but at least I can aim an’ block thanks to him.”

No resentment? That was… “I know, you're prob'ly thinkin' it's weird that I ain't callin' him names. My head might still be fucked around about Kagome, but when I was at the shiro… Well, let's just say that findin' out he never had a single friend before Kagome really opened my eyes. He's way older'n me an' I had Kikyō, then Kagome, then the rest of the group, an' other various people along the way, yōkai, hanyō, and ningen alike. Maybe shallow friendships but still _existing_. It made me think about how young he was when he had t’ take up his duties an' how just... All sortsa things I never wanted t' think about before.

“Like, even though I was still really pissed at her for movin' on so fast, it was real clear that Kagome's prob'ly the only person in existence who coulda done that for him, and after thinkin' shit over, even though I still wished it hadn't been Kagome, I was glad he had someone in his life who could make him feel that way, cos it became real clear that he never had th' kinda childhood like I thought he did, an' bein' abandoned by his mom right before losing you… I hadta stop right there, the very idea of Mom ever leavin' me for any reason just hurt so _bad_. An' on top of that he hadta take up duties he prob'ly wasn't anywhere near actually ready for, an' clean up after a _war…_ I realised that I mighta had it terrible, but he didn't have it too much better. It took me a while, but once I finally completely stopped resentin' him is when I started t' realise that somethin' was _bad_ wrong with what I'd been doin' t' Kagome an' how I was thinkin' about her because if I could stop resentin' _Sesshōmaru_ , of all people, then I oughta be able t’ think about Kagome by her name more than by other names.”

Well, this was beyond what he had expected from his most definitely not-so-recalcitrant after all son. He'd expected fights, denial, and belligerence where there was agreement, acceptance, and understanding. “I admit, I was not expecting such maturity about this whole situation from you, but I am most definitely pleased that you have come to such realisations about how things really are wholly on your own despite the fact that you are ignoring an entire set of your yōkai instincts.”

His son looked at the ground, pulling up some grass with one of his hands and letting it fall back down, “I think that th' more I was around Kagome, th' worse my mind got. That first moon away from her let me see some important shit, an’ then th’ more time after I left – deplorably by the way, in case you didn't know, an' I knew it was wrong too. Took Kōga an' Sango t' make me accept how bad it was of me t' do that particular thing, although I still couldn't get my head on straight about Kagome. Anyhow, th’ more time I spent away from her th' more I realised that I never treated other women, warriors or not, like I treated her… About two moons ago it really hit me across the head that somethin' was wrong in a bad way an' that if it didn't get fixed it'd probably end up with me makin' a stupid mistake and dyin' or somethin'. I can talk about her usin' her actual name now, which I hardly ever could before, which's good, but somethin' clearly made me ignore how bad I was treatin' her an' I'm glad you c'n fix it. Gettin' over Kikyō's gonna be th' hardest part though.”

Ah, so he was aware at least of whom Toga had been referring to earlier when he said Kagome wanted an apology for someone else, not herself. Sango clearly looked shocked and Inuyasha chuckled, shaking his head, “Sango, I might be stupid an' blind when it comes to Kagome, but there's literally only one person strongly connected t' her like that, even though they aren't th' same an’ I c'n see that now, and that's Kikyō. Which makes me think I know what I keep tryina ignore, and that makes me just wanna _get this over with already_. Although… Sango, no offence, but I'd rather Dad be the one to go through my breakdown when I wake up. I feel some guilt an' regret but I'm still twisted around an' it's prob'ly gonna be real fuckin' bad when I wake up. Kagome was th' first person after Mom t' ever accept me as I was, an' I spent our entire time t'gether abusin' her... That's gonna fuckin' _kill_ me, when I wake up.”

The female taijiya nodded wisely – she understood that some things were better dealt with by family, especially family that hadn't had a hand in thoroughly scolding him over his treatment of Kagome. Sango still held a large amount of resentment, made even clearer by some of her facial expressions when he talked about some things, and whilst she probably thought she hid it well, Toga could see it clearly and his son obviously could as well. Realising that his son was more than willing to fix the issue had obviously made Toga far less resentful towards the boy, however, and because of that he would be far more sympathetic.

“Lead the way to a secluded spot then; I will do the fix and hunt for your time under for Sango. I'll bring some rice and vegetables by later as well, since Sango is ningen and needs more than just meat to survive healthily.”

Inuyasha did so then, standing up easily and leading Toga and Sango to a cave a short ways away from the village after Sango informed the taijiya of the general situation; no specifics, thankfully. That would only foster more prejudice.

When they arrived, Toga had Inuyasha lie down and placed a hand upon his head, sending his yōki into his son's mind and wrenching open the channel that had been forcibly slammed closed – his baser emotional yōkai instincts. Inuyasha immediately passed out, and Toga quietly left, hunting down a boar and bringing it back before leaving once more to go buy some rice and vegetables; Sango already had a dagger, and something to cook the food on over the fire in the cave. Once that was completed, he departed for a final time. His presence would be necessary later, but for now he needed to absent himself, so he went to the village and asked what he could do to help.

\- - -

Sango's eyes were filled with a tangible pain when she finally fetched him. “He needs you. Bad. Even- I mean. Yeah, just, I can't do it, even if he wanted me to. I'm pulled too many ways and he needs his _father_ , not a friend.”

It took him mere moments for Toga to arrive at the cave, and the gasping sobs coming from within immediately washed away any lingering anger he might have held towards his son. “My poor boy, you really were not ready to deal with how badly your ningen instincts manifested when you met with Kagome, were you?”

“Oh, _Kami_ , Dad, just. I can't- Fuck, I'm so fuckin' _deplorable_!”

Toga pulled his son into his lap and held him close, gently running his claws through his younger son's hair as he let the boy cry out his grief and regret over his actions. It was a very long time indeed before those tears finally dried, and when they did, his son whispered, “I can't believe what I did. It's… I hope you aren't expectin' me t' just-”

He shook his head and scratched his son's scalp lightly, “No, I understand, Inuyasha. It will take decades for you to not only come to grips with this but get over your first love, the person you thought to be your mate. Nobody is expecting you to miraculously be fine and fixed and able to apologise immediately.”

“Thank you. Not just for fixin' me, but for bein' willin' t' teach me an’ shit.”

He wryly eyed his son and stated, “Let me guess, no amount of teaching is going to fix your way of speaking, which has definitely degraded from how you spoke in those memories I saw.”

His son barked out a laugh at that, “I decided t' take a lesson from Sesshōmaru at that. He c'n change his age by this time an' he's clearly far older, mentally, than he looks. I can't do nothin' 'bout my looks, but… People hear me speak an’ expect someone stupider than I am. My reputation is pretty big now so it's th' only thing I c'n do t' make people immediately underestimate me. I'll learn proper speech from you, but I sure as hell ain't gonna use it unless an’ until I gotta. Plus it's like. I got where I was on my _own_. I hadta survive on my _own_ an' I want people t' fuckin' remember that. My life's never been easy, even back when mom was still alive.”

That made sense, and Toga could not fault his son's logic in that. He was right, after all, so Toga would deal with it.

It would not be easy, by any means, but he had faith that his son could grow and learn well; it was something he looked forward to _very much_ now.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N:** OKAY 'Nother complete POV switch, this time this has some warnings issued with it. **Any chapters focusing solely on either Byakuya or Kohaku will probably have intimacy in them. Not necessarily sex, not necessarily descriptive, but physical intimacy will be in all or most of them because these chapters are focusing on the development of a physical and emotional romantic relationship between two damaged people with PTSD and fucking _severe_ trust issues. Sex is not the point,  intimacy and trust is. Every one will have some step either being taken, or the results of a development shown, so if you want to know and keep track of their developing relationship, I suggest you read these and just skip over parts you are uncomfortable with.** So, here we go! This chapter has pretty much nothing humans would consider even remotely sexual in it. Just moth intimacy. :3

\- - -

“Hey, you!”

Byakuya growled, tightening his hand around Kohaku's, and whirled around, glaring at the _stupid fucking ningen_ that was interrupting their business here and making it take longer for them to _get back home_ to their pack. The man's eyes were glued to their hands, and Byakuya immediately realised the problem. _Fucking_ _again_. He didn't let go, though, just shot back to the man to reassure him, and any other inquiring minds, as to the nature of their relationship – although he _shouldn't_ _have to_ , _**wouldn't**_ _have to_ if this was a yōkai village.

_S_ _tupid fucking close-minded prejudiced ningen_.

“What? My best friend and I have business to do here, and we need to get back to our families. I understand that most ningen don't like yōkai, but we're not all violent monsters, and I swear we are just grabbing something our Lord ordered and taking it back home to him.”

That was the litany almost every time, and if it weren't for the fact that Kagome-ne was _right_ , Byakuya would resent her _so much_. But it was true, they couldn't just stay away from people all the time, because Kohaku would eventually get reactions from others about Byakuya and it was best to inure him sooner rather than later. Even if it meant Kohaku finding out about Byakuya's feelings in the process – Mamoru had agreed (of  course), so now they split errand duty with Jaken. Always together, never apart, but _still_. Sometimes that made it _worse_ , as much as Byakuya needed and loved Kohaku.

The whole village seemed to relax some as soon as he said “best friend”, and the way Kohaku's hand had tightened around his at their actions, Kohaku had _noticed_ this time around. Shit. Well; the one thing that Byakuya knew was that even if it was differently, Kohaku _loved_ him almost as much as he loved Kohaku, and wouldn't ever leave him.

They finished their business unmolested, left the village with their package – more high-quality matcha for Kagome-ne's amazing tea – and Byakuya awaited the incoming possible landslide.

It would never be an explosion, but it had the potential for the _worst_ kind of awkwardness because there had been no indication that Kohaku was anywhere close to being ready to take the next step and deepen things, which meant that he would _know_ that things were one-sided and just…

_U_ _gh this suck_ _s_ _so fucking much, gah_.

“This happens every time the village is ningen. Would you explain?”

Byakuya sighed and slowly began to loosen his hand – only Kohaku was _not_ having that, and pulled him to a stop, forcing Byakuya to look down at him. Kohaku would always be shorter than him, but he'd grown impressively in the past few years. Not just mentally, but physically too; Mamoru was likely the reason behind this, but Byakuya and Kohaku really _were_ ageing together, both mentally and physically – shockingly enough physically at the same rate of mental growth; Mamoru said it was because physically they were old enough to change their appearance if they were yōkai so he'd seen no reason to slow Kohaku's physical ageing when Byakuya was physically adult already and they were both mentally adult. “It's... I should stop when we're in public, because ningen disapprove, and assume the wrong shit and _care_ , but they think we're together. You know, like Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni.”

Kohaku, to Byakuya's _intense_ shock and awe, just scoffed and rolled his eyes, tugging on their linked hands pointedly. “What's wrong with _that_? We  are, aren't we? I might need to go slower than most people, and need to be shown _how_ to have this kind of relationship, but I'll _never_ be able to be with anyone else, and I _love you_ and it's blatantly obvious that you feel the same about me; nobody even _tries_ to hide it, and they never _have_.”

That... Byakuya was rather dumbfounded at that, and his perpetually-amused mask must have thoroughly disappeared because the person he _loved with everything he was_ laughed at him and lifted his other hand to run through Byakuya's ponytail affectionately; he didn't do it _often_ , but Byakuya's hair was _sensitive_ and he _really loved that_ , and Kohaku _knew it_.

“So – it doesn't matter, does it? You're strong and I'm strong. You might not be _right now_ , but eventually you'll be my partner in every way that we are capable of; completely instead of just halfway like things are currently. If anyone has a problem, they can deal with it, even if it means knocking them out so they shut their stupid faces up.”

He couldn't _help it_ ; the moth yōkai was so completely happy that he pulled Kohaku close and buried his face in the top of his head with a soft whine – he might have been created a moth, but he was _taught_ inu and his new body had a distinctly inu lean to it (very much according to his wishes, thank you so kindly Father), and so he acted inu when they weren't around people who would recognise his breed. Kohaku nuzzled – _nuzzled_ – under his chin and wrapped his arms comfortably around Byakuya, allowing the yōkai to take in his scent and come to grips with the fact that Kohaku had _already known_ and had _approved_ and that _Kohaku wanted him back_.

Byakuya didn't know how many years it had been since they met – he was yōkai and they generally didn't keep track of singular years unless they had some important date; mating anniversary, for example, like their alphas celebrated every year. The pack was also assigned birthdays and celebrated them, but excepting Shippō nobody actually _kep_ _t_ _track_ of their ages because they aged differently to ningen anyway. Only Kagome-ne kept track of how old they were. And she was utterly fine with that.

But it couldn't have been even two decades yet, maybe just one and a half or so, and he was positive that he'd expected something like another couple decades before Kohaku even recognised the _possibility_ of him having a romantic relationship. And for that matter, how was he _okay_ with this, and when did he  notice, and when had his love changed from best friends/pack-mates to _partners_? Kohaku seemed to sense his numerous questions (Kohaku read Byakuya _very well_ ; and Byakuya in turn read Kohaku just as well) and responded to them before the illusionist even had a chance to ask, murmuring quietly into his haori as he rested his cheek against the fabric covering Byakuya's chest.

“It took a long time for me to notice, mostly because my _boyfriend_ is a tricky and clever yōkai who got me used to affection as soon as he realised he had feelings for me, I suspect. And because we're freely affectionate in the pack, as well. But really, nobody bothered trying to disguise or make excuses for how differently you treated me to everyone else, and when I noticed that they just expected me not to realise – and that that had been exactly what happened – I went to Roku.”

That explained a lot; also, Byakuya had been slightly worried that Kohaku would be mad at his blatant manipulation of the situation – no, he hadn't done _anything_ to try and secure Kohaku's feelings. He would **never** _ **, ever,**_ _ **ever**_ do something so utterly and completely _**deplorable in every way**_. But he _had_ made sure that in case he never got romance, his instincts that had been twined together and changed, even before, but especially _after_ his new body, wouldn't be starved. Yōkai were _not_ _ningen_ and desperately needed different things in different situations many times. Everyone who had known about what Byakuya was doing had approved – essentially _all_ the adults and Shippō. Mainly because it would make things easier for Kohaku in the future, even if he ended up liking and being with someone else.

“He told me very bluntly and gently that even though you knew I wasn't ready for a relationship beyond just friends right then – and might never be ready for one – you still loved me very similar to how Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni love each other, and because you would never hurt me, everyone in the pack encouraged it. Nobody was expecting me to suddenly change and heal overnight to be with you, but everyone did suspect that if I ever was ready for a relationship, it'd be you I decided to have one with, because I already loved you in my own way and trust you more than _anyone_ else. So I just left it because I know Kagome-ne is smart, and Mamoru is too, and if neither of them disagreed, then things were fine how they were.

“But it was like, once I was aware of your feelings I started _noticing_ things. Mostly how I reacted when you showed that you loved me all those little, important ways. I'd never even noticed before, but it made me so _happy_ that it wasn't long before I started wanting to do it back. Because if you made me this happy then how happy could I make  you?”

And suddenly even _more_ things became clear – he'd been deliriously happy when _Kohaku_ had begun initiating affection and things in ways he never had before, a few years ago, but Mamoru had never said anything, so Byakuya just assumed that the other boy had relaxed in some way and felt more comfortable with him than he had before. It became clear _why_ Mamoru hadn't said anything – the change in thought processes was so natural and subtle that the nekomata, despite being as brilliant as he was, just hadn't noticed. When they got back to camp Mamoru would be _beyond_ pleased – and  highly put out for missing this. Byakuya couldn't _wait_.

He decided to confirm his best friend's latent suspicions, mumbling loudly into his hair, “Deliriously happy. Yōkai emotions are _strong_ , every time you initiate affection my heart nearly flies out of my chest. Feel how fast it's beating right now, Kohaku? You do that to me _all the time_ because I love you so much that it takes over _everything else_. There is not a single thing in the _whole world_ to me as that is as important as making you happy is.”

Yōkai also did nothing by halves – Kohaku might not be ready to return the strength of his emotions (admittedly the sheer overpowering nature of his feelings was more a _moth_ thing than a yōkai thing in general), or deepen the relationship (although Byakuya was suspicious that Kohaku already had _plans_ and that was  dangerous – when Kohaku _planned_ something he tended to get what he wanted, regardless of the consequences, although admittedly he _always_ thought through possible consequences before deciding on a course of action), but Byakuya would _not_ be holding back the strength and power of his own emotions from Kohaku. And Kohaku might have been born-ningen but he was clearly expecting this, as he pressed his ear and cheek against Byakuya's chest and _listened_ , his arms tightening noticeably after a minute.

When he spoke again, his voice was hesitant, and Byakuya could understand why – they both would shy away from something like _that_ , “Is this... _supposed_ to happen?”

The illusionist shook his head fiercely, “Absolutely _not_. I asked Kagome-ne and then Roku-ni to be sure. Kagome-ne promised that we were not tied together like that at all, and that any bonds we had with each other were _only chosen_. Roku-ni confirmed this, and said that we weren't connected at _all_ until you made the decision to trust me, and that even though Mamoru effectively told you it was okay, by not reacting to me at all, it was still _all you_.”

Most people didn't know this, because Roku-ni kept it a _big_ secret, but where Kagome-ne could see soul-connections between people, Roku-ni could see _chosen_ connections between people. Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni might have been soul-bound, but they were also _chosen_. He'd seen when it happened initially, at the battle when Sesshōmaru-ni had become _interested_ in Kagome and decided to pursue her in some way, although it wasn't romantic at first, by any means. Because Byakuya knew, Kohaku knew, but nobody else in the camp, not even Sesshōmaru-ni or _Mamoru_ , knew. Byakuya was pretty sure that that question of his was the _only_ reason Roku-ni had told Byakuya his secret – because he realised that both Byakuya and Kohaku needed confirmation that they weren't being _forced_ into this and having no choice.

Roku-ni was scary-smart. Even worse than Kagome-ne was. It was weird that the scariest members of their pack were two born-ningen (nobody who'd decided to have forever was actually ningen any more, but they didn't know what to call themselves yet), rather than the daiyōkai with acid claws. Then again, the reason they were so scary was because their power was _knowing_ and _changing_ and it was hidden and kept subdued; Sesshōmaru-ni was blatant and attention-grabbing in his power, which was impressive, but also meant that people immediately knew he was dangerous, even if not how dangerous, because he was intelligent and kept his yōki restrained a _lot_. That made him less scary because even if only a little, you _knew_. Not even Sesshōmaru-ni knew how powerful Kagome-ne and Roku-ni were.

Byakuya wasn't sure if it was smart or stupid that 'ni-san was the only person not actively terrified in some small manner by the power his mate and brother held; but considering that _Sesshōmaru-ni_ was  alpha and they had _chosen_ him for alpha, he was probably at the very least very safe and secure in his confidence. Besides, it wasn't as if he was completely undisturbed by it, he just knew that if he put his foot down, he would be obeyed.

The taijiya in his arms relaxed considerably at that, and _nuzzled_ him again, making Byakuya growl lightly. Surprisingly enough, Kohaku growled back – correctly too. Then again, he'd been in the pack for _ages_ , over a decade now. That affected people. Certainly it had affected Byakuya even before his body changed, although Sesshōmaru-ni had done that on purpose. If Byakuya wasn't taught to interpret his instincts like moths were from the start, Sesshōmaru-ni would give him the right information, but make him reach for them more how inu did, because Sesshōmaru-ni was more comfortable that way, and because, being _created_ , Byakuya could more easily change his reactions without screwing anything up. Especially when Father had changed his new body to be more inu than moth, very kindly.

“I was relieved, too. I love you, but I'd never be able to handle being in a relationship that was _destined_ or some shit because I had enough of being forcibly tied to someone in that manner with Naraku.”

Kohaku was very quiet when he spoke, “I have such a hard time dealing with Sango because she was _born_ my sister and I didn't _choose_ her like I did Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni. I might be bound to them, but that is by completely willing and knowing choice, same with you. Kagome-ne knows this, which is why she only makes us visit Sango once a year. Sango thinks it's my trust issues, but it isn't, it's that something I didn't choose for myself is almost _suffocating_ except with Mamoru. I don't know  how I can handle Mamoru, but he's the _only thing_ that I can handle not having chosen for myself.”

He knew the feeling and his words made Byakuya pull Kohaku's face up and rub their cheeks together with a comforting growl, holding his friend—boyfriend, _Kami_ that was _wonderful_ to be able to say now—close to him and rubbing his back softly. Showing that he didn't care, wouldn't judge, just accepted. Still – he wanted to know. “So, um... Do you know when you developed stronger feelings for me, or when you realised?”

“I realised at the beginning of last year, but Kagome-ne told me to wait until my feelings settled and I was comfortable with them before telling you. I think she'll scold me for taking so long when we get back, but she'll be happy – she knew it would take me a while so she'll just be teasing. Sesshōmaru-ni doesn't know though – I wanted him to have a nice surprise when I finally told you, because he'll be very happy for you.”

“Thank you very much for that, Kohaku, you're right that he'll be very happy for me. Sesshōmaru-ni wants me to have _whatever_ I want, and I've wanted you for _ever so long_.”

It was a very yōkai sentiment, but Kohaku still smiled at him and pulled Byakuya down to press their foreheads and noses together, _playing with his hair again fuck_. Everyone in the pack was  well aware by now that Byakuya's hair was generally not to be touched – he took part in grooming but nobody groomed his hair, it was too sensitive, although damn but his boyfriend could touch it _whenever he wanted_. Kohaku didn't push it though, and knew when he had to stop, because when he did, his eyes were shining with happiness and he said firmly, “A little bit at a time. We'll find out what I can handle, what I like – because I know you know what you like and can teach me – and go slow. But you have to trust me to  know what I can handle because I'm not a _child_. If I want to do something, _let me_.”

That was _more than fine_ with Byakuya because he was intent on doing _whatever Kohaku wanted_ anyhow, and there was no hesitation whatsoever when he pressed his lips against Kohaku's, gently, but firmly and for a long time, nipping his lower lip very lightly before pulling back, and carefully watching those chocolate eyes he loved. Kohaku was a little dazed, but definitely happy, and he smiled with a nod, before pressing his face into Byakuya's haori again. The illusionist was well aware that this whole situation right now would be overwhelming for the taijiya; Kohaku did _not_ deal well with overwhelming things, so he just held him and let him calm down. It took a while, but that was to be expected, and Byakuya couldn't help kissing his Kohaku's cheek before grabbing his hand as they headed back to camp. Looking back, Kohaku was blushing _ever so adorably_ and Byakuya fell in love a little more upon seeing that, even though by the end of things their situations would be _completely reversed_ because Byakuya's intimate instincts were not those of the one in charge.

He had a feeling he would be in very deep by the time their relationship was fully stable and comfortable and _known_ inside and out. Byakuya didn't mind that at _all_ , though. Especially because, from the looks of it, his Kohaku would be just as deep – even if Byakuya had to _make sure_ of it himself.

Now that they were _together_ it was okay for Byakuya to use every damn tool in his arsenal to twist things to his advantage and make sure that Kohaku never wanted to leave him, and loved him just as deeply and strongly as Byakuya loved Kohaku, although he would never use his illusions for such a thing – only his personality, flirting, and teasing. Some yōkai would say that was impossible for a ningen to love a yōkai with the same depth, but Byakuya knew better. His 'ne-san had loved his 'ni-san _every single bit_ as deeply and as much, far before she was changed to be more than ningen. And Kagome-ne wasn't the only person in the world with an astoundingly large heart. Take Roku-ni, who _loved_ her, in pretty much every damn way possible, and was still _so happy_ she was with Sesshōmaru-ni.

Kohaku might be selective and choosy with who he let in, but the depth and breadth of his emotions were breathtakingly yōkai.

Nobody was surprised when they arrived in the camp holding hands – they _always_ held hands – or when they presented the package to 'ne-san...

But only 'ne-san had a knowing and amused twinkle in her eyes when Byakuya suddenly turned around, grabbed Kohaku, and kissed him in full sight of _everyone_ (Father was visiting!) in their pack.

The shock in the air was fucking _delightful_ _and perfect_. This was the absolute  best way to get his family open-mouthed and disbelieving. Especially when Kohaku, dazed and blushing, huffed, grabbed him, _pulled his hair oh_ _K_ _ami so cruel_ , and kissed him just as hard, although more rapidly, before pulling back, only to lunge forward and hide his face in Byakuya's haori. “You could have _warned_ me, you know, you jerk.”

Not even Sesshōmaru-ni had could have ever felt so smug and satisfied with any situation as Byakuya was in that moment. Speaking of Sesshōmaru-ni, he looked over to him and the _total delight_ for Byakuya's victory was intensely gratifying. As was the continued and complete shock of everyone when Kagome-ne laughed and clapped her hands, speaking in a teasingly chiding tone, “It's about time, Kohaku! If you didn't make a move by the end of the year I would have done it for you! Well, Sess? Like your surprise? Kohaku made me _swear_ not to tell you so that you would get to be surprised and happy with his _boyfriend_ finally winning him.”

A pleased growl rumbled from their alpha and he walked over to them, ruffling the top of Kohaku's head fondly, “Very pleased, thank you otōto-kun – for much.”

Not just for the surprise, but for making Byakuya happy and accepting his love. There was _no hiding_ Byakuya's joy at the new status of their relationship. Everyone's shock quickly turned into amusement as Mamoru spoke into the clearing – by now _everyone_ could speak to the nekomata, because he was such an integral pack-member. “ _How the_ _hell_ _did he manage to keep this from me_ _so completely_ _?_ _I didn't feel anything at all, what the shit!_ _That little_ _ **sneak**_ _!_ ”

What Kohaku said next was _so sweet_ _and perfect_ that Byakuya kissed him _again_ even though he'd just decided to make _sure_ to take things incredibly slow so he didn't fuck up. “I wanted to make sure that if I fell in love with Byakuya it happened because _it_ _ **did**_ , not because it was _**made to**_ _ **happen**_. I know you love me Mamoru, but I also know you would have done your level best to make me love Byakuya back because Byakuya knows and loves me for who I am. I was not about to have that, I wanted to make sure that things happened naturally and without any interference of anybody at all. Especially because I knew that if I was _made_ to love him and Byakuya ever found out, it would be too much for him to handle.”

The kiss didn't last too long, but at the end of it, Byakuya pressed their foreheads together and barely managed to choke out, “Fuck, I love you _so much_ , Kohaku.”

Their audience was _gone_ , and Byakuya took the chance to escape, grabbing Kohaku's hand and running into the forest around their camp, going to one of their spots. The pack had many regular camping spots, even not counting their dens, and this was a familiar one to Byakuya and Kohaku, meaning that it had a spot they went to to train and be alone from the pack regularly.

He wasn't sure _why_ , possibly because suddenly things were different and new and they needed to do something that _Byakuya_ wasn't used to, to even things out; but his instincts were _screaming_ at him, and Byakuya wasn't inclined to ignore them. Listening to your instincts was _important_ , and the feeling behind them was affection, not anything else, so it was okay.

Kohaku had wanted to fall in love with Byakuya because it just happened? That meant that Kohaku loved Byakuya _as he was_ , selfish, spoiled, and arrogant. He manoeuvred Kohaku down onto a small stump and plopped down on the ground in front of him, deftly untying his long hair and demanding for him to, “Groom me. Now. I'll tell you when to stop.”

He could feel the amusement radiating from his boyfriend, but also the seriousness – the _only people_ who had _ever_ been allowed to groom Byakuya before had been their alphas, although _very_ rarely Kohaku had been allowed to wash Byakuya's hair. And even then, their alphas had only groomed Byakuya twice – once with yōki and reiki dampening Byakuya's senses so that he wasn't too sensitive, just so that he got to _experience_ normal inu grooming at least once... And the second time purposely left exactly as is, and pushing Byakuya _constantly_ past his limits, so that he knew what they were, what he liked, what he needed, what he could handle, how far he could go, **everything** – exactly for this very situation.

That was one way in which Byakuya was wholly moth. Hair grooming was for _couples only_ , and incredibly intimate – playing with hair was acceptable in private and with pack/tribe/family, but never ever in any situation that was even moderately other-people public; not until the relationship passed a certain point, anyhow, after which playing with hair and other visible shows of affection were practically demanded in public. There was a _reason_ moths kept to themselves more than lots of other beast yōkai.

Byakuya wasn't that strict with his views on hair-playing so early in the relationship, although he knew in the shiro he would have to be, and Kohaku was very good at reading Byakuya and knowing when enough was enough – he'd played with his hair a few times before this, in various situations. But grooming was _different_ and Byakuya needed to push his own limits. Like he'd been thinking earlier, his instincts weren't craving anything but the intimate affection, so it wasn't too early or _anything_ like that.

Soft, blunt nails scratched against his scalp and he shuddered, keeping his breathing slow and even like he did when he was meditating. However, Kohaku was apparently _not_ about to have that, because he _yanked_ , making Byakuya cry out and look back in shock. What'd he done to deserve _that_?! And how had Kohaku even known to _do_ that anyway?!

Kohaku was _not_ amused any more, and was deadly serious. _Fuck_ , Byakuya had been right earlier, he was _so fucked_. Kohaku had _plans_ and Byakuya was interfering somehow; he was very familiar with the look in his boyfriend's eyes right now. “No. If I'm going to groom you, you are going to _let go_ , Flame. No control, no holding back. I'm nowhere near as demanding as you, but the one thing that I refuse to let go is that you have always been your whole self with me and that is _not about to stop_. Either you _let go_ _and lose control_ or I leave for the moment.”

That... That was probably the most difficult thing anyone had _ever_ asked of Byakuya, and from the determined, loving, and completely intent look in Kohaku's eyes, he knew it damn well. He knew exactly what he was asking, and it _hurt_ _so much_ to even _think_ about doing what he was being asked to do because it was _scary as fuck_ – but hadn't Kohaku done this for him earlier, even if only a bit? Wouldn't he do _anything_ for Kohaku? Weren't his instincts _screaming_ out that obeying his partner was _far_ more important than his control issues? They may not have been angling for this sort of outcome, but now that it was possible, they were _not_ about to let it pass by.

He nodded, swallowed, and let his breath out, “I might slip, Creek...”

Kohaku leaned forward and rested their foreheads together, “I'll catch you, promise. I'll pull if you're holding back, I know how much is too much. But please, trust me and _lose control_.”

How could he say no? He turned back, and _this_ time when nails scratched against his scalp he gasped and whined softly, his hands fisting into the grass, claws digging into the soft earth as those strong, slender fingers slid through his silky black strands.

Byakuya had no fucking idea _how_ , but Kohaku knew _exactly_ what he was doing. Every damn movement was designed to make Byakuya react visibly and vocally, as was proven when he leaned forward, pulled Byakuya's hair away from his ear, and breathed against it, voice ghosting out, “That's it, Flame. Keep it up, Byakuya, you're making your Kohaku _so happy_ – just _let go_. I _love you_ , you can _trust me_.”

_Fuck_ , Kohaku might know what the hell he was doing and what the _fuck_ was going on, and had obviously somefuckinghow _planned this_ how did he plan this _(fuck do that **again** Kohaku please oh fuck yes more, more, thank you  so much)_ but Byakuya had _no damned clue_ what the hell was happening right now and just cried out softly, his whole body shuddering as he allowed Kohaku to overpower him, his instincts clamouring with utter delight that this was how things were supposed to be, him submitting to his partner wholly and completely. Arching and tensing and relaxing and shivering and shuddering and Kami he _could not stay silent_ and fuck this felt _so very good, how was anything this amazing possible_ ( _please never stop please_ ).

Out of nowhere, blunt teeth scraped against his ear and _bit_ and suddenly it was _so fucking clear_ what Kohaku was doing, and where he had learned this, and _oh Kami_ he was **so** going to thank Kagome-ne when he got a chance to speak to her alone.

The moth yōkai couldn't even give a fuck that it was probably _to soon_ , because _Kohaku_ told him to  trust, not just _now_ but _right at the beginning_ and he was damn well going to do it. Byakuya would do _anything_ that Kohaku told him to do, _no matter what_ , because Byakuya was _a good, obedient boy_ and he would  prove it. “C'mon Flame, please, you've waited so long, let me make you feel good, _please_.”

That just _tore it_ and Byakuya **completely lost himself** in overpowering pleasure.

By the time he came back to himself Kohaku was nuzzling his neck and had his arms wrapped around Byakuya's neck, fingers stroking his chest underneath his hanjuban, murmuring softly, “Thank you so much for being a good boy for me Byakuya. You made me so happy by letting go for me.”

Oh _Kami_ Kohaku called him a _good boy he wanted to hear that again_ – wait, oh **dammit** , it was _so fucking embarrassing_ that Kohaku knew about that before he even knew how _utterly deep_ Byakuya was in love with him!

...Maybe he was going to _kill_ Kagome-ne instead of thanking her. Kohaku was clearly aware of what his thoughts were, and laughed softly, “Don't be mad, I blackmailed her. One time while everyone else was asleep Sesshōmaru-ni was making her feel good and it woke me up – I threatened to tell Sesshōmaru-ni because if he found out he wouldn't do it to her again. Kagome-ne swore to teach me whatever I wanted, especially when she realised I only wanted to know so I could make you feel good doing at least one thing that you didn't have to teach me. I'm _not ready_ to feel anything like this... And I might _never_ be ready for it, it's so overpowering. But doing that to you makes me _incredibly_ happy, and I demand full rights to do it whenever I damn well please.”

Kohaku bit his ear again, hard, and it was clear that there was going to be _no budging him_ on this issue. Kohaku didn't put his foot down very often, but when he did, _nothing_ could change his mind, not even his alphas. Byakuya swallowed, trying to decide what to say, when Kohaku proved just how much he had the ability to learn, taking a page from Byakuya's own book and whining softly into his ear, “I _want it_ , Byakuya, _please_.”

Dammit why'd he have to love Kohaku so much? He _literally_ could not ultimately deny the person who held his heart _anything_ whatsoever now that his instincts were roused after being held back for _so long_. Eventually they would settle, but right now, saying no was impossible – and Byakuya was actually  glad of that because if he was honest with himself, he _really wanted_ Kohaku to be able to have that kind of power over him, and for Kohaku to be _happy_ to have it. “I... Dammit you _know_ I'll do any fucking thing you want, whenever you want it, Kohaku. I guess now that we're together it means letting you groom me, too. And... And  everything that comes with it... _Whenever you want_.”

It was clear that his boyfriend knew what a _huge concession_ that was from someone who _prided_ himself on his immaculate and exquisite control. His arms tightened and Kohaku moved forward to rub their cheeks together with a happy little growl, “Thank you _so much_. You've always taken _such_ good care of me and taken such care  with me – not just physically, but emotionally as well, and you've always done your best to make me feel as good as possible without taking things too far – I think you deserve rewards for that, and since I know how to give you them, I want to be able to, whenever I feel like it.”

Well, it was pretty much _always_ going to be the case that Kohaku would be the one in charge in this relationship, even if Byakuya had to take the lead to begin with, and this was clearly just setting the standard for everything else. Just in case Kohaku didn't understand the full depth of his feelings though, Byakuya decided to repeat his earlier statement. “Kohaku, you _have_ to know, because this is power and can be misused. I am not teasing, joking, or exaggerating. I will do _anything you want_ , and I'll do it _whenever you want_. You have that much power over me, Creek.”

Kohaku was _everything_ to Byakuya. Clearly he had not realised exactly how literal Byakuya was being, because he paused for a long time, but after that moment, he kissed Byakuya's cheek and responded, “Mamoru has to go find a partner and breed soon... He told me that he would go whenever I decided that I could use a couple years on my own or that I was okay without him... I think that I want to get used to my relationship with you without him around, because while you are both important to me, it is in _totally_ different ways. Mamoru has had me for ages – it's time for you to get me to yourself for a couple years. I know it's not long, for yōkai, but-”

Unsaid went the fact that Mamoru _was not_ above having Kohaku ask Byakuya to do things he wanted done, and Kohaku was realising that the power imbalance was too strong with _two_ people that had such power over Byakuya.

Still, at those words, Byakuya turned around and kissed him, his violet eyes alight with fierce joy – he loved Mamoru deeply as well, but he had always wanted to have at least a _little_ bit of time with Kohaku just to himself. “Oh, Kohaku, it's _plenty_ of time. More than enough. We'll get used to each other and be settled and then it'll be us and Mamoru again, only this time everything will be equal.”

Because they both knew clearly that Mamoru had never been meant to be a partner to Kohaku in the way that Byakuya would be, and they would finally have _equal_ importance to each other in his mind – and, if he was honest, it would finally match what _he_ had with Mamoru. The nekomata was deeply important to Byakuya and ingrained in his relationship with Kohaku just as the feline was to Kohaku. Without Mamoru, _neither_ of them would be here right now – despite that they had _chosen_ this.

He got a sweet smile for his words, and Kohaku slid down, easing into his lap and wrapping his arms comfortably around Byakuya. They'd sat like this a couple times before, but it was _definitely_ different now. _So much better_. It just felt so natural to have Kohaku sitting in his lap, Byakuya's arms around his waist, his chin resting on the smaller male's head as Kohaku relaxed into him, his body slouching lightly. They just sat there for a while, before the inevitable question came out, “So... How long have you been planning to do _that_?”

When it came to _experiencing_ things like kissing, Kohaku was clearly shy and easily flustered or overwhelmed, but that was  very obviously not the case when it came to _doing_ things that he didn't have a strong physical reaction to. Eventually he would lose the shyness altogether and while part of Byakuya would miss it, most of him would cry out in gratification because his beloved was confident and perfect and dominant. Kohaku smiled and kissed the side of Byakuya's neck, “Probably... Oh, like six moons. Part of the reason it took so long to tell you how I felt was because I was going to ask to groom you if you didn't ask me to do it for you, and while I was excited for it, I was also very nervous too – not that much about doing it, weirdly enough, just about asking that first time, getting your permission to make you lose control.”

Actually it made perfect sense to Byakuya – Kohaku was very much a _doer_ ; he was far more likely to just do what he wanted and apologise later than he was to ask permission (meaning he almost _never_ asked permission for a single fucking thing – Byakuya was _not_ the only one with severe control issues, they just manifested differently with Kohaku), very much like Byakuya was, only with a very different attitude. Unlike Byakuya's complete in-your-face flamboyant attitude with his actions, Kohaku was straightforward, serious, and blunt. This was what he did, why he did it, and if he needed to apologise he would, and be genuinely sorry for his actions causing something negative – which was the only reason he'd need to apologise.

It spoke volumes about Kohaku that even though he constantly _did_ things without getting permission to do them from their alphas, he'd only had to apologise for it _once_ before. Kohaku was a _very_ good judge of situations and people, and never did things that he wasn't absolutely sure needed to be done. It didn't get past Byakuya that grooming had somehow been one of _those things_ for Kohaku – he felt he needed to do it, and he followed his instincts. That meant it was incredibly likely that the taijiya had been right. Certainly, their relationship was completely changed already now – the connection was deeper, and the power balance was rectified now that Kohaku finally _knew_ that he was the one who would determine everything that happened.

The only actual strange thing about this was that nothing that had been done so far felt _remotely_ sexual at all (although _fuck it had felt so amazing and perfect_ ), which was different from how it had been when it was Kagome-ne and Sesshōmaru-ni pushing his limits. This felt... On a completely different level. Incredibly intimate, and borderline romantic, but not _sexual_ despite the eventual outcome of the situation. Something was niggling at his memory....

Byakuya latched onto it and watched what he was shown. Ah, it was a memory of during the second grooming Byakuya had, when he asked why it had felt different the first time – even with his senses dulled, because it was inherently sexual/romantic for moths, why hadn't it been so _earlier_?

Kagome-ne had responded to him that pleasure came in many forms, and it was the _intent_ of the people involved in the giving and taking of pleasure that defined how it felt. Nobody had _intended_ for their earlier grooming to be even _remotely_ sexual or romantic, whereas that second one was was _intended_ for Byakuya to learn his likes, needs, and limits. Byakuya hadn't been intending on the grooming to actually go so far as to be sexual when he started it; he was just listening to his instincts telling him that this bit of intimacy was _needed_. And Kohaku, while clearly aware of sex and things like that, just didn't have that kind of  outlook towards this. For him it was about making his boyfriend _feel good_ and that was it.

Somehow, Byakuya thought he might like this a _whole lot_ _better_. It certainly had felt nicer by the end – he'd felt sated and loved, instead of drained, and the overpowering pleasure... He'd _never_ felt _anything_ like that before in his life.

Pleased with his new knowledge, he nuzzled into Kohaku's hair with a pleased growl, just content in snuggling with him – and then, Kohaku spoke and ruined the good mood, “So... Good boy?”

Byakuya flushed and growled. He was going to _kill_ Kagome-ne and her stupid fucking ability to pick up on things people didn't even _know_ about. “I don't fucking know! It's her stupid reading people thing that even had her saying it to begin with, and yes I really like it but it's embarrassing as fuck. I mean it was always blatantly clear that you would end up being the one in charge in this relationship, but that's a bit... much. Even though it's apparently a stupid _moth_ thing that is instinct and uncontrollable.”

Then Byakuya _rushed out_ so that it was practically one word, admitting something that he probably never would again, at least not when he was _normal_ instead of his intimate, instinctual side. “I really like it though anyway so don't stop even if I complain, 'kay?”

Strangely enough, the knowledge that he had that much power over Byakuya seemed to be making Kohaku more confident in himself, which Byakuya _really_ liked. Kohaku should always be confident and proud. He was a _beyond_ competent taijiya with _two_ yōkai partners who did whatever he wanted them to do and were completely devoted to him. He was _powerful_ , _strong_ , and _talented_. Kohaku chuckled and lightly ran his fingers through Byakuya's hair, “I think it's really cute, Flame. Knowing... What you told me... I dunno it makes things different... in a good way. Like, I have any choice I want now, so I can just do _what I want_ even if it's different.”

“You have _power_ , Creek. Complete and total power over me. I _want_ you to use it. Be proud of it. Be confident in it. Know that you can do pretty much anything and I will approve, even if I would have a terribly opposite reaction to anybody else doing it. I might hold you back and make sure you know what you are doing sometimes, but that isn't for any other reason than making sure you don't have to experience anything bad any more.”

Kohaku pulled away at that, and Byakuya almost whined, before he pressed their lips together shortly, and pulled away again, suddenly running his hands through Byakuya's long hair and clenching them closed. The air _changed_ and Byakuya knew that he was about to have to back up his words about _wanting_ Kohaku to use his power. “Even if I said I want to groom you again, all the way until dinner, making you lose control over and over again just because I want to make you feel _so good_ because you waited for me and let me _choose_?”

The moth yōkai whimpered and gasped, fully aware that Kohaku wasn't being hypothetical, was completely serious, and was _testing_ him. He should have expected that – it was a part of Kohaku's trust issues; if someone said something and Kohaku couldn't tell how truthful it was, he would _find out_ any way possible. Even if it meant doing things he normally wouldn't approve of. Again, Kohaku's trust issues and control issues were every bit at bad as Byakuya's. Kohaku likely would have chosen something else to test him with if he had informed him of this in a different situation, but really this was the _best_ way to test him. And he was well aware that Kohaku _had_ to be absolutely positive of if he truly had as much power over him as Byakuya said, if Byakuya _genuinely_ wanted Kohaku to use that power he had. Unless he knew for _absolutely certain_ he would always hold himself back far more than was healthy.

But Byakuya was being _totally honest_ and no matter how hard it would be to give up his control for so long, he truly would do _anything_ for his other half. “Yes. Even that. I will be your good boy, and lose control, and feel good, and do _whatever you want forever Kohaku_ because you are _my entire life_.”

True to form, Kohaku set about making him _prove it_... and despite the fact that a part of him itched, knowing that anybody else could _make_ him give up his control without him being resentful over it, Byakuya was _more_ than happy to prove himself. Again, and again, and again, until he completely lost count of how many times he fell over that overwhelming edge.

By the time Mamoru called them for dinner, their _entire dynamic_ had been irreversibly changed. Kohaku was still adorable, more innocent, shyer, and got flustered whenever Byakuya initiated more unfamiliar affection with him...

But he irrevocably knew that _he_ was the one who would make the decisions in the end, that _he_ had all the power, that his choices with how to use it were unlimited, and that he had somebody who was incredibly powerful, talented, and arrogant, right in the palm of his hand and willing to do absolutely any damn thing he asked of them.

Byakuya _followed_ him all the way back to the camp, and although almost everyone was amused and confused at the change in seeing Kohaku leading the way with their hands linked... Kagome-ne had a knowing look in her eyes, and Byakuya decided he needed to thank her – and get some advice. Kohaku could _tell_ , so he gently pushed the illusionist towards their alpha bitch, and she took his hand, leading him away from camp in a different direction.

“I take it Kohaku was successful in his endeavour to make you give in and just _feel good_?”

Byakuya wasn't surprised at her comment – Kagome-ne probably knew far more about what just happened than even Byakuya did, and he had _taken part_ in it, so he just nodded and sat down on a fallen log, twining his hands in the edge of his haori, “It was perfect, losing control over and over again just felt _right_ with Kohaku being the one causing it and I'm really glad that he _knows_ now the level of control and power he has... But... 'Ne-san, how do I prevent becoming resentful? I mean, I don't _think_ it'll be a problem, but I'm so _scared_ it will be, the last time anyone had anything close to _this much_ control over me, I _hated them_ when they used it, and what if I should have just never let him know, because he has _even more_ because this time I'm fully willing?”

Kagome-ne sat down next to him and went about rapidly and straightforwardly reassuring him. “Do you resent him for testing you? Making you prove yourself?”

“ _No_! How could I? That's just _Kohaku_ , he **has** to know for  absolutely _sure_ and the only way to do that is to test people and situations!”

“And do you regret that you love him, feel like it would be better if you'd never let anybody have enough power over you that they could make you lose control like that to the point that you almost feel like you're losing yourself and finding yourself at the same time?”

“ _Fuck_ no! It was _amazing_. Yeah, completely unexpected, overwhelming, and fucking frightening as all hell, but nothing that  anybody has done has ever made me feel so loved and treasured and wanted; I didn't even know that I _needed_ that but I **really** did. I could never, _ever_ regret loving Kohaku, even with the total loss of control. Especially cause I know that my control issues veer into really unhealthy territory and this will help with them. Willingly giving up my control to someone else. It's big, and it's frightening, but it's also _important_ for me to do. Nothing in the whole fucking universe could make me regret loving Kohaku.”

Kagome-ne smiled, her cerulean eyes bright and deep with affection and wisdom, “I'm about to let you know something, Byakuya. Kohaku already knows this, because he was having a slightly similar problem once he realised he loved you. Because it was that moment that he realised that even when they love you, truly so, caring for people _still_ gives them immense power over you, and he'd never realised the extent of the power he let you have over him.”

Byakuya nodded seriously; so Kohaku _knew_ that he needed to talk to Kagome-ne because he _knew_ what Byakuya was worried about. She'd probably warned him this might happen. This probably also explained why Kohaku took the idea of his power over Byakuya so well for someone with such deep self-trust issues – he hadn't thought of it deeply earlier, because he was too pleased with things, but that _was_ unusual. “I'm listening, 'ne-san.”

“The greatest show of power a person can experience is wholly willingly _giving themselves up_ to somebody else and allowing that person to have control over them. Because the person submitting themselves has _all_ the power in such a relationship – even if they never actually will, they  always, _**always**_ have the power to say **no** , and make things _stop in their tracks_. Well; in a healthy, non-abusive relationship, anyhow, but abuse is rare amongst yōkai couples, it's generally only ningen females who have to worry about abuse for the most part in this era.”

That...

Holy fuck, 'ne-san was _totally_ right. Kohaku would have  left if Byakuya wasn't ready to give himself up like that yet. Not left _Byakuya_ , just the clearing, until his instincts were calmed. He'd _made_ submitting to him into a choice, before he even realised that Byakuya would do absolutely everything and anything for him and that he could  never let Kohaku _leave_.

And knowing that Byakuya, despite his words, was _actually_ the one who had the say in the end, because if Kohaku ever went too far Byakuya was no doormat who would just allow that... Meant that Kohaku could use the power given to him without mistrusting himself. Byakuya would _help_ after all. And Kohaku would probably come to Kagome-ne to make sure that things weren't tipping over too far one way or the other. Especially because he could see that Byakuya genuinely _wanted_ to let Kohaku be in charge of their relationship.

The itching had stopped now, completely, and Byakuya knew with a fierce certainty that where Kohaku was concerned, it would _never_ return again.

He glomped his ane-san, holding her tight, “ _Thank you_! For everything, 'ne-san, but _especially_ for that. The itching stopped and I'm not worried any more.”

She smiled, knowing full well about the itching that happened whenever he wasn't in control of a situation excepting when it was a pack thing because he'd _picked_ Sesshōmaru-ni to be his alpha. “Good, now, let's go back to camp, I'm hungry and I'm sure you are too.”

Since he _was_ , he just followed her without argument.


End file.
